Vox V810 Valve-Tone

EZ..

at one time i had a vox v837 distortion and it just didn't work out for me at that time w/that rig (no disrespect) but becuz of that i was a little aprehensive about buying this V810 pedal but i got a deal, & based on some of the reviews i read here... i say what the heck
This time i was NOT disappointed and also I'd say thet the reviews i read here were pretty right on the money .. i was REALLY surprised at how good it was , i A/B'd w a Ibanez TS-10 a Boss SD-1 and it held it's own and then some... i agree w / a reviewer below about how well it handles chord work ... of course i'm keeping all the above pedals but the point is the V810 valve tone is not 2nd to any of them - i was mainley switching back and forth between a 88 USA Fender Tele and another dual PAF tele but also a 84 jap strat - it was outstanding all around - the funny thing is that earlier.. i was already planning on selling it before i even got it home, i wasn't expecting much from it at all , but it won me over right away - now i'm giving it a 9.6 but i'm rounding up

one note here.... mine does not pop when i switch it off & on - i didn't notice anything sub standard about it at all...

cmon man, you know your on your own...

the v810 valve tone (imho) is kinda between the Boss SD-1 and the Ibanez TS-10 but it has it's own flavor too - you can also tell they're all from the TS family - the sd-1 can be so smooth (w/strat) and the TS-10 can be smooth too but REALLY shines when it screams (w/tele) while the V810 covers almost the same territory as the other two but i think i like it BEST w/ pafs - don't get me wrong i LOVE it w/ strat & tele too ! and also these are not being made any more so grab one while you can for not too much money ... even better that way... OH ONE MORE THING before i got this i tried to listen to sound samples on you-tube but the ones i heard sounded like the V837 distortion (which wasn't my fav) so don't trust that... TRY IT YOURSELF !!!

The Vox is extremely easy to use, I bought it used, so I dont have a manual, but it functions pretty much exactly like any other overdrive. With a bit of tweaking, it functions as a dirty boost, distortion, etc. Its my favourite overdrive, and i've found it comparable to my Hot Cake overdrive. Almost any setting will deliver a great tone. I personally favour a 10 o'clock volume with tone and gain at 12.

I normally run this overdrive with an Eric Johnson Strat and a 1962 Vibrolux, and it sounds great. Its not noisy, theres no hum, and it works exceptionally well with my Sovtek Mig60, as well as my les paul/Starfire IV

Now, this is unfortunate, as this is where this pedal takes a turn for the worse. Now, granted, i bought this used, but frankly, broken pedals arent terribly useful, and ive been having a constant struggle with this pedal to get it to function properly. My gain knob died, the volume cuts in and out unexpectedly, and the tone knob occasionally ceases to function as well. If this pedal didnt sound so damn good, i would have tossed it by now.

No contact.

As an eclectic musician(blues/jazz/country/rock/etc), i have never been let down by the sound of this pedal. The only thing that is not worthy of a ten is the build quality, which is highly suspect, as I read reviews from others having the same problems. If you can find and or afford this pedal, and you dont mind having it fixed once in a while, its amazing. Otherwise, find a Hot Cake or similar pedal.

no brainer... gain, tone, level

After all these years, it's still my favorite low-gain OD pedal. I use it to push the front end of my tube amps. Tried just about everything & always come back to the VT.

This pedal has a nice "Voxy" mid freq that puts a punch to the mids on a clean amp, or pushes a clippy amp into full OD. I like to use it with the gain almost off... typically 9 o'clock & the level at 3 o'clock.

Sounds great with all guitars & all amps. (I typically use a Matchless lightning, Bad Cat Cub II, Vox AC30, & a 60's Fender Vibrolux Reverb. Guitars are strats, teles, LPs with P90s, & sometimes a Gretsch)

It has it's shortcomings. I suggest... 1) Replace the bypass switch with a good one & wire for true bypass. Add 1Meg bleed resistors to prevent "pop" 2) some early version pedals had a little yellow cap & resistor on the output jack to ground... I remove it if it is present. 3) Replace jacks with high quality switchcraft. 4) Replace LED with high brightness RED or BLUE. Do these mods & the pedal will work flawlessly for years.

Does not exist...

With all the hype surrounding OD pedals, I am surprised the Valve-Tone doesn't get more attention... I own TS9s like everybody else, but still favor the VT for lower gain OD. I own several of these & haven't paid more than $50 for any of them. Great value, grab one if you can. If you don't like it, email me & I'll buy it from you. :)

Bought mine used, no manual, no problem.

American Series Strat (ES335/Carvin DC200)->CMAT Mods Compressor->Vox Crybaby->Vox Valve-Tone->EHx Holier Grail->t.c. Nova 1 Delay->BBE Sonic Stomp->Hot Rod DeVille 4x10.

Great, smooth sound for blues, rock, jazz. I keep the tone set at "0" for most applications.

Zero problems so far. Heavy chromed case, appears to be well-made internally.

Discontinued; mfg support n/a.

Purchased used, with a BRIGHT blue LED and a Fulltone switch already installed. No popping, on/off status easy to see day or night. It's a permanent part of my signal chain (as much as anything ever is). If lost or stolen, I'd try to find another.

As easy as it gets. Three knobs, and it's actually hard not to get a nice sound out of it.

A very nice vintage-sounding overdrive, and the added noise is very reasonable. I like it better with my Les Paul Special, and it sounds kind of thin to me with my Strat. Plays all the 60's stuff you want - the Kinks, the Small Faces, the Who, the Beatles - you name it.

Seems solid enough to me. I'm not too hard on my pedals though. The slanted footswitch problem that someone her had mentioned - well, I've never found the footswitch to be particularly vulnerable. All the glossy chrome requires a lot of wiping though.

no idea

This is the way to go if you want something different from a generic tubescreamer. I wouldn't exactly call it 'versatile', it's more of a one-trick pedal and does not do more than overdrive. But it's definitely a great-sounding overdrive.
These used to sell fo under 50 bucks at Guitar Center back in 1998, I wish I was smarter and bought one then. They get increasingly hard to find and the average price for a used pedal is about $90 now. I got lucky to get a new one for a hundred, and hell, I'll make sure it doesn't get stolen, becasue I'd hate to go looking for another one.

Simple as 1-2-3.

This is a follow up to a review I did three years ago for this pedal. The footswitch broke after a while and I tried to replace it with a switch from Maplin (big mistake) but that didn't last. I then replaced it with a heavy duty switch from an amp manufacturer (local) and it has been trouble fre ever since. In fact it has been very well used for gigging and recording.

Fantastic quality overdrive, nice and smooth. Has the sound and looks of a much more expensive valve powered pedal.

Since I replaced the switch, no problems and no audible popping sound when switched.

Never tried to use them.

A wonderful pedal at a bargain price. I have yet to compare it to a true valve overdrive, but I have a fender deluxe with inbuilt valve drive channel. I often prefer the VOX sound to the amp's own overdirve.

I can see this VOX on my pedal board for a very long time indeed.

I plugged it in, stepped on it, played for a while and got some great sounds from it; Beatles-taxman and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, to the who-my generation, love that the 9v input is on the side(saves space on my pedalboard). Manual is ok and has all the information you need.

This is the best overdrive i have ever tried. Rock'n'Roll all the way! I just fell in love with it. Perfect for BritPop (Oasis, Blur, Verve..). I use a fender japan tele, TU-2, CS-2, V810, TS9, Muff, Maxon CS-550, DD-6, PN-2 throug a fender Princeton and a Hot Rod Deville 212.

Have had no problems yet, and dont belive I'll ever have. Buildt in a beautiful stealbox with quality rubber on top and feet, matches perfectly with the v-847 wah. I don't have backups for any of my gear. Just pray before gigs, has worked 140 times so far.

Have played for ten years, mainly british rock. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy a new one and keep it in my underwear to protect it. Vox should reissue this one, but on the other side I like that people ask what it is when they see it.

I first reviewed this pedal four years ago. It hasnt' went anywhere since.
That should tell you plenty in this overdrive of the week market we're in.
Very easy to use. 3 chickenheads. No muss, no fuss. The only problem I've
encountered is the dim, amber colored LED. None too easy to see. So I'll give it
a 9 here.

I go from Peterson Strobostomp tuner > Crybaby Classic wah > Vox Valve Tone >
Fulltone OCD > Maxon AD999 delay > Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb

The key to my tone remains the Vox. Harmonic content, perfect low end, definition,
musicality. A truly stellar pedal, better than any tubescreamer or variant I've tried.
Again, this comes after four years of consistant use, so this is no honeymoon. It's a
marriage. This pedal goes to 11 in terms of quality tone, but HCs max rating is 10.
10 it is for tone.

Ok, here's the only place where I have to scold my little Vox. The exterior is rock solid.
The components, particularly the chip, are top notch. However, the switch has always
popped a little on the first engagement. It's now popping pretty much everytime.
These discontinuned gems orginally sold for 60 clams. (Now fetching 100 clams due
to its reputation.) So what do you want? Give her a 9 here.

Discontinued pedal, so this doesn't really apply. I plan on sending my little buddy
to analogman, or some other pro to install a new switch and a bright blue LED.
Then she will be the puuuuuurfect OD pedal. They better not damage it, or change
its tone in any way, or they're cruisin for a brusin. Still a fantastic pedal after four years.
Think I might hunt down another for a backup.

Not much left to say. If you're looking for a transparent overdrive that doesn't
sound like all the others, this is the prime ticket. Works great for the Blooze, everything
from Chicago to electric Delta. Slappy and fun for funk, particularly with some wah.
Will do Beatles chimeydirt. Will put a grin on your face.

It's just as easy as a tube screamer or any other overdrive pedal, just three knobs and a switch.

This is really the important part. I come from a background of blues, so I'm going for the traditional sound of an overdriven tube amp. I have a TS-9 modded by Analogman, and I also have an original TS-10 with the JRC4558 chip, both sound just right for that blues sound (SRV). I've put this Valvetone side by side with the Tube Screamers and I can hear NO difference. It's just as nice!!! Actually, I like it more just because it has slightly more overdrive when the gain is cranked. But it's nice and smooth with the gain down. It has the usual midrange hump like the tube screamers. All-in-all, it's a boutique quality pedal, for a really low price! I'll give it a 9 only because there's a slight pop when you engage the switch, but that's not uncommon for a 3pdt switch.

It's been very dependable. I would definately use it without a backup. It's extremely solid and heavy, with that chrome cover and solid housing, you can't go wrong.

Never dealt with the company.

These were discontinued by Vox after only a couple years of production I think. I got a first year pedal because as soon as I heard it I knew it was a bargain. You can find them on Ebay once in a while for cheap. Not only do they sound fantastic, they are BEAUTIFUL pedals, and they are built like a tank. Another plus, if you have one of these, not many people do, so they get noticed, it's like having a rare boutique pedal. I use it every gig. The only problem is the LED which is a very dim yellow color. I had it modified by a local tech with a bright blue led, but it's really just a cosmetic thing.

my son of three knows what to do with it.....

very good, crunchy, I used it a lot for rithme and when playing leads I pushed it up with a Boss SD-1 to get a very rich tone.
If you want to play solo on this thing my guess is that it's to dusty or muddy sort of speak, but for chords it's very good

No f****** chance, the layout of the pedal is wrong, the surface where the switch is on is angled to much. Maybe it's just me, but I had to replace it twice already, ok , in 6 years. I do gig with it, but I only use it when I need to break out of the mix now as it is in front of my Mesa V-Twin. I replaced the switch myself, even that is childs play. ;-)
The nuts drive you nuts as well..... ;-)

never dealt with them as I repair my own stuff.

good nifty little thing, but if you don't use it a pedal case or something (so I mean a loose pedal that you pack in a softbag every night ;-) you will have to buy ten of them not to have a problem.

Simple as can be. The tine knob does make a difference and Gain and Level are self explanitory.

Great sounding overdrive, similar to Tubescreamer or Tubeblower. Certainly got its own character and I alternate it with my Tubeblower to vary my sound during a gig. It has a nice fat sound and gets really dirty at full gain. I really like it.

Okay for 12 months, then the foor switch broke. I tried to replace it myself, but it seems to have problems cutting out intermitently. Maybe that's my fault and I shouild have it fixed by an expert. Otherwise the pedal is solid and the knobs are big and chunky.

N/A

If it hadn't broke I would probably never bought another overdrive pedal. It has a great sound and is way better than my old Boss SD-1. It compliments my fender hotrod amp very well. Overall a great sound, shame about the build quality.

It couldn't be easyer!!!! Just plug and play. Volume, Gain and Tone!

I use a Big Muff > Ernie Ball Volume > Dunlop Rotovibe > Dunlop Crybaby > Ibanez PUE7 (Tube Screamer + Tube Drive + Digital Delay + Chorus Rotary) > DOD Envelope Filter > MXR Dyna Comp > Boss Octave 2 > Boss OD3 > Vox Valve Tone. I use a Boss TR-2 > Boss DD3 > Boss Super Shifter > Electro harmonix Deluxe Memory man plugged into de PUE7 Fx Loop.
I use a fender '52 telecaster butterscotch blonde, a fender strat 60 player w/texas special pu's a Gibson Les paul Calssic 1960 Goldtop and other axes, all run mainly into a Fender Twin Reverb. I also use a Fender Blues Junior and a MESA BOOGIE DC5. I play with a lot of bands and in very different palces, so many times i have to play with other amps like marshalls, h&K etc.
I never play without my VOX VALVETONE. I leave it on all the time, for the extra fatness and the soft crunch. It gets any amp play right, specially the Twin Reverb wich is to clean for me (except when i play jazz or bossa nova). I use with the volume at max the gain at minimum and the tone at minimum or 9 o'clock.
It makes a litle noise when you turn it on or off, but since i leave it on all the time...
i'm think about getting another one.
It makes other overdrive pedals sound great. The Big Muff sounds full and rich.

Never had a problem and i own it for 10 years

never needed it

It's my main thing. I never play without it. It's allways on.

It has the same bloody controls as a tube screamer. Unless you're retarded, you should have no problems.

I use les pauls into marshalls. My review is split into 2 sections 1) Pre-mod: sounded just like a tube screamer(TS) but with the highs slightly attenuated so it was less harsh. Not much low end. Mid-hump like all TS's. Tone knob was not useable after 2 o'clock. Drive knob delivers good sounds throughout its entire sweep, which is rare enogh for any pedal, much less one that costs so little.Basically a medium-lite gain one-trick pony 2) post-mod: tried to clone a keeley-style TS mod for the valvetone. Now its a lot better, there is MUCH more low end, more drive, more gain and less of the mid-hump. Basically this pedal is for those of you who want a TS style drive pedal but don't want to be seen with one of those green beasts. It really sounds similar to a TS, and any mod available for TS's is also applicable to this pedal(look insde, it's virtually identical to a TS)and will improve its tone in the same way. good pedal for a good price, but only after a mod. If you mod it properly, its a real gem. Oh, the LED is bloody useless, especially if you are playing in the daytime, in the open, then you won't be able to see shit, it's GOT to be changed. It's also really pretty...

Have owned this pedal for over 10 yrs. was reliable as hell before i modded it, is still reliable as hell now. the switch is over 10 years old and has been used and abused at countless jams and gigs and is still working fine!!(i guess i've jinxed it now). Would definitely gig without a backup.

never dealt with the company.
As for repairing it or modding it, if you can mod a TS, you can mod or repair this, its exactly the same! Not a complex pedal at all component count is very low.

I play blues/funk/rock. This pedal is a good match for what i play. Have ben playing for 15 yrs have owned almost every drive/TS style pedal/clone under the sun (ebay is addictive and dangerous!)This is not the best clone avalable(Barber Direct Drive gets my vote for that)but if you want an attractive, cheap TS style pedal to mod this is perfect for you and it will really SING once you mod it properly. It was decent when it was original, it is GREAT now its been modded. Yes i would buy it again, if it were stolen it would really hurt cos i've owned/used it for so long that its got a fair amount of sentimental value attached. So...if you like TS's, buy it, its a great little pedal.

It's only got three knobs: Volume, Tone and Gain. Very straightforward... Completely stock... Didn't come with a manual, but you shouldn't need a manual to dictate your sound...

I've tried several overdrive pedals and this one seems the most transparent and doesn't color my guitar tone at all. I'm using a Gibson SG w/ P-90's and a stock American Telecaster into a Fender Concert amp. The only other pedals I use are a ProCo Rat and sometimes a Boss delay (but only rarely, 'cause it sucks the tone). I set it with Volume at 2 o'clock, Tone at 3 o'clock and Gain at 11 o'clock. Anything above that on the gain and it starts to sound the same. Also, I find the tone doesn't have enough variety (i.e. it sounds warm up until around 2 o'clock. Anything above that is too harsh - I end up using the tone turned up high on the pedal and adjust the tone with the tone knob on my guitars.

In terms of sound, it's great for blues and brit-rock type sounds. Think the Beatles "Revolver", or with the gain around 9 o'clock, early Who recordings. In terms of response, it cleans up nicely when you lessen your attack or lower the volume on the guitar. It's one of the few OD pedals I've tried that doesn't seem to color my guitar sound at all. However, I do feel like it thins out the bass sound a little bit - I'm starting to look at boutique pedals, but this pedal just sounds great. It's a pretty quiet pedal compared to other OD pedals, but as with others, it will give a bit of a hiss at higher volumes - especially since my sg w/ p-90's and teles are single-coil guitars. It does have a nasty pop the first time you turn it on, so make sure you click it on and off before cranking your volume. It's true bypass as well, unlike tubescreamers and boss pedals. For the price, I think it's a better value than a lot of pedals out there without forking for boutique pedals.... Make sure you always have fresh batteries or an adapter in it though as once the battery starts going, the tone is horrible and it really squashes the signal...

I've gigged with this for about a year and a half without a back-up and it's held up pretty well. However, the construction looks a little shoddy. In fact, I think the footswitch is about to go. Sometimes I stomp on it and the OD only sometimes kicks in.... So, I bought a Boss SD-1 for a backup for our last gig and sure enough, the Vox pedal died during sound check..... Not sure who to send it to in order to get it fixed as they don't make these pedals anymore...

n/a. Have not dealt with them. Will probably try and get my pedal fixed locally. Hopefully, someone can fix it....

For the style of music I play, it's perfect. I've got a ProCo rat for heavier distortion sounds, but this is an excellent overdrive pedal and, for the price, it's very transparent and it's true bypass... Only complaint is lack of tone variety and the bass sound seems to be a bit diminished when the effect is on. Just wish it was built a little sturdier, but I guess I got a year and a half's use out of it...

it easy one button three knobs the light is a b*tch to read sometimes

im using a parker p 38 standard into a v830 booster(much better pedal) a fender blues deville (4 X 10)
and i can get some good blues tones but nothing else do not expect this to give you and kind of scream

noisy when running both the v830 and the v810

no trouble yet... but bring a spare battery to a gig its hard to tell when it getting low

never delt with them

great for svr tone blues and nothing else if you looking for the more classic rock solo distortion go for the v830 its better (cheaper too!!)

Stomp on switch, twist a few chicken head knobs and you're cookin'!

My setup goes: Fender Strat(kinman woodstock pickups)Fulltone Clyde deluxe wah-Fulltone deja vibe-Custom made Fuzz (used a a boost with the fuzz down slightly) vox V810-Danelectro echo-Akai tuner-Fender 63'Blackface bassman head into Marshall 4x12" with celestion greenbacks. I find the pedal does not color my sound and is not noisy, it's a great pedal for light rock/ blues, and with humbuckers will give you some great vintage lead sounds, but as I use a strat with single coils, I need to boost the signal going into it for some superb solo sounds, note ,this is a players pedal, it wont mask your sloppy playing like a "supermetaldeathslayingturbobooster" but if you love the tone of your guitar and amp but wish you had a little more drive and sustain,track one of these down!I have been playin over 32 years and in the past couple of years had and disgarded various pedals including: Voodoolab sparkledrive/Jaques tubeblower/Fulltone 69/more Roger Mayer pedals than I care to remember/Barber dd/Barber dd ss/Boss BD2/Boss SD1 and Keely modded TS9, now I am not saying these pedals don't cut the mustard, but I was looking for something else, and by chance came across the Vox V810...It looks like I can stop looking!!!Also i have had a look inside and see that it has the same rare chip TL4558P inside that my Keeley modded TS9 had....can't be bad.

Only had it a while ,no problems so far, but anything will break down eventually! Its a few years old already, and still workin fine.

This pedal is discontinued,but if I have any probs. I have a good tech. who will sort it.

This pedal is a little gem, if I find another I will buy it.It can be used as a almost clean boost, and anything else from Jazz to rock.
I recomend as with any pedal try it out with your own gear in a live band situation, thats when you will find a pedals faults,I looked on this site for comments about it and by and large they are spot on! It has not got the best tone sweep that ive heard, but I have tone controls on my guitar and amp!!It also gets along fine with my other pedals.

2 knobs not complicated at all, s

ive tried it with a fender super 60 rackmount head into a marshall cabinet , with a musicman custom with empg pickups, I am able to get a crunchy but light rock guitar sound.
also with a fender bassman reissue strat guitar I can get a open chord playing type of sound , kind of like guns & roses type of sound, very cool sound.
I will not do a gig or even rehearse with my band if I do not have this pedal, If you see one at a store please email so I can buy it!

new batteries do make a difference ive had it for about 4 years no problems

never dealt with them

this pedal is awsome, I play from funk to reggae to punk hardcore latin rock, if you have a overdrive pedal already add this one and it will sound better warmer, if you want to play blues this is it, whatelse can I say , after 4 or more years with it I want another one

Pretty easy to use: gain, tone and volume knobs. The yellow led makes it hard to see when the pedal is on. Eats batteries easily (so I recommend using the AC Jack).

I can get great overdriven tones using it with my Fender Deluxe Reverb RI and Gibson ES 335. It gives me an amazing tone like The Who's Live at Leeds with this setup. I've tried a lot of overdrives before I go for the Valve Tone (Ibanez TS 9, Marshall Drivemaster, Dano Daddy O, Boss ODs and Rats are some of these), but this was the only one which gave the sound I was looking for.
The bad points: it only sounds good with new batteries, so it's better use the AC adapter for a nice tone. It's a bit noisy too (probably due to cheap construction).

It doesn't seem very trusty. Seems to be made of cheap components, but in fact never had a problem with it.

I've been playing for 11 years and I play mostly pop, classic and alternative rock with this setup. If it was stolen, I'd ask an electronics expert to make a copy of it using 1st quality parts (in fact I'm considering doing this and keep this one for selling it for big bucks when it becomes a "classic", like the tubescreamer). It has a very nice tone by itself and it's well worth an upgrade.

Easy to use. All controls do what they are supposed to do, in a linear and predictable way.

I play jazz, modern type (funk and rock).
Gibson 335 or Gibson SG -> (Several effects) -> ValveTone -> (Several effects) -> Digitech 2120 (rack) -> Fender Twin Reverb
I wanted the ValveTone to help me in keeping the Twin at a low volume and still get warmth, boost and a little character in my sound. I use a lot of the tone control to help me cut thru the mix. You could leave it on all the time it would not hurt your sound (for blues and rock I leave it use on almost full time).
It has true bypass, which is a necessity for all kind of rigs. It has a little compression that makes you feel like you are playing a loaded tube. Voicings are not wide, but it gives nice power to chords and leads without sucking bass.
I compared it to almost every other pedal available, and it was second to none. Even pedals with a tube inside could not get the fantastic sound the ValveTone has. Plus it looks good and has a functional design (except for battery changing (by the way, make sure to have a fresh battery; it makes aaall the difference)). The switch makes you feel when it has "clicked" and you can easily see the "on" light.

I gigged with it 3 nights a week for months, in some really bad places. Had a few problems with jacks getting loose, but I was able to fix it on the spot. It does make an extremely annoying and dangerous POP the first time you turn it on, so I recommed turning it on and off before turning up the amp volume.

I'm from Argentina... we basically dont have customer support for anything.

Great, great pedal. You can get a lot of good sounds out of it: distortion, overdrive, booster; warmth, bite, creamy, sustain, etc., etc. You only have to be careful not to mistake "warmth" for "mud".

Strongly recommended. Any questions please email me at: dropelin@hotmail.com

Plug in, twist the three chicken head knobs and GO CAT GO!

Excellent sounding low to medium gain overdrive pedal. Smooth overdrive tones abound throughout the entire ( yes, entire ) knob sweep...except the tone control that is...I have to leave it all the way down (off) as it is a bit bright ( for my taste ) anywhere but 0. Using a homebrew USACG chambered mahogany tele with a Duncan Seth Lover humbucker ( excellent pickup by the way ) in the neck and a Duncan Lil' 59 in the bridge. I like to roll the tone control back to 1/2 - 3/4 when the valve tone is engaged. Doing this results in some of the finest, creamiest, smoothest overdrive tones this side of midnight....especailly with the Seth. This pedal seems to like tube or solid state amps equally and shines while playing crunchy chords or single note flurries. I usually have the gain anywhere from 12:00 to 4:00. I've tried to replace ( or add to the tonal spectrum of ) this fine pedal with an Ibanez Tube King, Butler Real Tube, Boss Blues Driver, Reverend Drivetrain and a few others. The Drivetrain
( first issue ) came the closest, but still did not have the pleasing tone of the VT. The Boss Blues Driver is still in use as a clean - semi / clean boost. Anything other than 9:00 on the BD and it becomes a bit fizzy / splattery. A mod by Keeley, Analogman or Doob-Tone is in order for the BD and that will be happening soon. The 8 rating in no way makes this a bad pedal. I just ordered a barber direct drive and I'm hoping that will bring a 9 - 10 rating. We shall see. Suffice to say, this is fine sounding unit. I guess it's based on a tube screamer. I vowed in the early 80's to never play a tube screamer. I played with my buddys 808 he bought in 79 - 80 and I was never that impressed with it. Of course at that time, I was running it into a clean amp and using it as a distortion pedal. It did not have near the gain or tone as my Washburn Stack-in-a-box! If it is indeed based on a TS, I guess my tastes have changed. Don Butler ( "The Tone-Man" ) will be getting this little gem in the mail soon to work his magic on it. From the reviews I've read here on Don's mod, and the kind people who have responded to my queries, it's worth the $45.00 he charges. The consencious is it makes the VT more "open" sounding, increases the range of the tone control, ( that alone would be worth it for me! ) and makes it sound more "transparent". I'm trying to figure out what transparent sounds like...if you have a clue, please let me know! One fella told me Dons mod makes it sound more like a tube amp rather than a pedal. The final result is slight, but all say it's worth it. Anything that would take this fine pedal to the next level is OK by me. I should just concentrate on my playing and leave the pedal tweaks alone.....but you know what? Damn it Jim, I'm a guitar player not a drummer! We gotta tweak, get new gear and change pickups every other week or we'll shrivel up and die!

Built like a Shrick hit brouse. You could use it open a pound of macadamia nuts, raise a welt on your forehead, frame a mini-bar, plug it in and play a White Room, Badge, Sleepy Time Time medly and not miss a beat. On top of that, it's very well constructed!

In 30 + years of playing, buying gear and managing music stores, I have NEVER sent a piece of gear back or contacted the customer service department of a company. I've been very lucky ( and blessed ) with my gear. Of course, I take excellent care of my stuff so that may have a bit to do with it.

I play the blues, worship music, gospel, old style R&B, motown soul, a bit of country, some faux jazz, ( I can fake it, but I ain't no jazz player...damn ) altered tuning original stuff and I help my friends out on their original tunes. My first love ( as it has been for over 30 years ) is the blues. With the USACG chambered Tele I just built, ( one of, if not the finest guitars I've ever played ) sweet, fat, woody, corpulent, plump, fereal and fecund tones spew forth like the creamy head on a well poured Guiness. The syncronicity of the guitar and the Valve Tone make it easy to not overplay. Like the fine Vox amp I once had the pleasue to plug in to....with touch senstivity, it becomes near effortless to play from your heart. You can say what you need to with several well chosen notes instead of fighting for tone and over playing. Anything that enhances your playing gets high marks from me.

please, I won't answer this item...

Well, Washburn Wi-64, two humbuckers, and the excellent Behringer GX210, which is the best emulation of a fender twin ever!!! The pedal is not noisy at all. I use it alone or mixed with the amp's overdrive. Despite its simplicity, you can get a really wide sort of tones, but allways with the same quality. Good sustain, creamy... don't know how to explain it, but it's very similiar to an AC-30, with that mid honk. I've have a lot of different pedals and This is my favorite one. In the store I compared with others like boss ds-1, ds-2, Ov-1, some ibanes boxes, and none of them could deffeat the vox.

well, is a vox pedal... I'm not sure if this unit can resist a nuclear assault, but for using in normal conditions I gess It'll be a god parter for a long time.

never dealt with the company.

Nothing more to say, read the guys bellow, all we agree about the incredible quality of this pedal. Great sound, great tone. I play almost everything but in the last time I've been a lot with Radiohead and the last album of Nick Cave, and this beauty do the job. It's so close to a real ac-30, that even at low gain it rings stronger than many other pedals. Maybe someday I'll buy a Big muf or a pro-co rat, just for curiosity, but the vox is my pedal.

you don't deserve to hit a stage if you're unable to use it.

this is the fifth OD/dist pedal I've owned, and search has come to an end. guys at Vox know what a tube simulation pedal has to sound like.
absolutely perfect for creamy overdriven rhythms, clearly responsive to dynamics, both w/ single coil and humbuckers.
set the gain at 0 and you'll get a clean tube channel sound, or at 3/4 to get some brit-sounding smooth grits.
as for me I guess I'll never ever switch it off.
no noise at all.

bought it four days ago.

I think I've found the only one left in my whole hometown, so I paid for it a little more than I was supposed to. but this thing is worth every single cent. I compared it with my danelectro daddy o (see my review) and the voodoo lab sparkle drive, which is a little more versatile than the v810 but almost twice the price, and I couldn't afford it. the valvetone has a honor membership in the overdrive family in my opinion, think of a ts-9 with a little more low ends (that's what I need, as I'm a natural rhythm).
brilliant, with a great personality, get one and you won't regret it.

It's real easy to use....3 knobs.

I use an LP classic with Seth Lovers through a Goldtone. It sounds pretty good, but it just didn't wow my world. I personally think it thins out my sound a little. It does the low gain to moderate overdrive ok...I prefer it to my ts-9 reissue, but it just doesn't have have enough tonal variability for me.

Seems sturdy enough.

N/A

My setup is LP->ernie ball volume->budda wah->direct drive->brotech fatpipe pro->bosss dd-5->goldtone, powered by a pedal power 2.The Vox is a respectable overdrive unit, better than a lot of others in its price range. I just got a Barber Direct Drive and I personally feel like it has a lot more tones to it than the Vox. Still, it can do a good tube sounding crunch. Check it out if you ever find it used at a pawn shop, see if it's your cup of tea.

The most difficult pedal I've ever used. You have to actually pick up your foot and press it down on a little button to turn it on, and then ( if you can believe this! ) repeat the process in order to turn it off!! Why they can't make this easier to operate is beyond me!!

I've had this solid chrome gem for 3 years now. I've tried to replace it with an Ibanez Tube King, a Danelectro Daddy-Uh Oh, a Dano Flab Tone, and a Reverend Drivetrain. The Drivetrain is the only thing that came close! The valve tone excells at mild to moderate overdrive tones. The tone control is a bit useless ( at least to me ) as I have to keep in all the way off in order to keep the warmth I like. Other than that, the tones it produces are stellar. I use an assortment of teles, a strat, a 335, a dano 12 string, a 40's Kay lap steel, a 50's Gibson lap steel, a....ah....you get the idea. The current favorite is my USACG Chambered tele with a seth lover pups. I run it into the Drivetrain + Valve tone + Diaz Tremodillo + Ibanez Chourus + Arion Stereo Delay + Ibanez Stereo Vol Pedal. I have a Digitech DigiDelay after the vol pedal run stereo into a Roland Blues Cube 60 and an old Dean Markley RD40. Just using the Valve Tone into the Vol pedal and the DigiDealy set to the Tape Echo or Solo setting is a very, very beautiful sound. I'm giving this a rating of 8..not because it's bad, but because I've yet to hear a 10 and I'm still searching! Maybe a Barber, Fulltone, et all..but for the money, this Valve Tone can't be beat! Even if I find a ten, it will still have a place of honor on my pedal board as it has a specail tone I can't get with any other pedal. Oh, what the hell...I'm giving it a 10!

I take very good care of my equiptment, so I usually have no problems. The swith does make a big ass "POP" the first time you engage the unit...then it goes away. So, the first thing I do when I set up, ( before turning up the volume ) is switch it on and off. Then, no more "POPS" during switching it on or off. Bought it new as a closeout. Last one they had and it was stuck away under the counter. I happened to see it when they were looking for something else and uncovered it. Had a $120.00 price tag on it. I offered $50.00, they said, "How about $60.00"? I said, "O.K."

???????????????????????

Excellent pedal. Why they discontinued it is beyond me. If I find another in the price range I paid, I'll buy it and use both of em. The Reverend Drivetrain I use in conjuntion with it is a similar excellent sounding unit. The Drivetrain has a bit more gain and more tonal variation, but the valve tone just has a sweetness I can't get out of any other pedal I've tried. It's a rich, smooth, creamy sounding pedal. I love using it with the front pickup while backing the tone control down. It also produces Rev Bill G approved pinch harmonics while using the bridge pickup. All in all, a stellar overdrive.

Great Sound! Easy to use. Three knobs. Quite self explanatory!

Sounds Great! I use ,it believe it or not, with an AC-30. It gives that extra umph! when I can't turn up the AC-30. I also use a tele, strat, and LP Standard. The Gibson is ok, but the single coil strat and tele sound amazing!

Never had a moments trouble. Great product. Heavy construction.

I e-mailed Vox about some nos mullard tubes for my AC-30, and they never e-mailed me back. Maybe they're busy!

I play Christian Rock and this pedal was one of the best investments I've made. Next to the AC-30 of course! No matter what, this pedal doesn't replace the real thing, but it still sounds great. I would replace it if it were stolen or lost. I own other overdrive pedals and they don't come close.

Features level, tone & gain knobs, pretty standard overdrive controls.Until you are used to the layout though, you could strain your eyes on a dark stage trying to see the lettering since it is etched into the chrome rather than colored, black or white. And the yellow LED is a bit of a drawback, too small and very difficult to see. There's a REASON most of the real world uses red LED's.

Very Brit sounding, makes you wanna play "Back In Black" or "Tie Your Mother Down" intros. Not a real WIDE voicing, but if you are after that certain sound, this one DELIVERS. Not a thrasher or metal unit, but if you like that sweet limey grind, this is a joy to play with.

Seems to be well built & solid.

Can't really rate this since I haven't had it that long or needed to get any support. Not being made anymore, either(from what I've been able to find out).

Play a variety of music and am a dedicated single-coil guy.Use G&L and Fender Teles and Strats, Fender and Ampeg amps. Using this pedal on a clean Fender amp is kind of like "Instant Marshall". Have AB'd this against a couple of Boss units(DS-1 & Blues Driver), Marshall BBII, Danelectro Daddyo and this unit may be my new favorite. Blows away the Marshall & Daddyo(IMHO). Not quite as diverse or capable of the saturated overdrive as the Boss units, but a bit tighter sounding, though.Does not clean up quite as well as Boss when you back off the volume on the guitar. Seems to have a LOT more range on the tone control between 3 & 5 0'clock than it does between 7 & 3. A slight dropoff in overall volume when set at unity on volume & gain, but you can set this to taste. Overall, this has become my favorite real fast, mostly because of that certain VIBE this has.True bypass as well. If not for the stupid yellow LED, I could almost give this one a 10.

This is a classic 3 knob overdrive pedal, very easy to use. Good sized pedal, very clear layout. Looks great although the LED is pathetically dim! In terms of other criticisms, I would say that the 9V socket is poorly situated - it's on the side of the pedal close to the input jack. There's a reason why most 9V sockets are on the top rather than the side of the pedal but the Vox/Korg designers seem to have their own view of this!

GREAT! Silky, smooth overdrive with none of the Tube Screamer harshness or midrange hump. I also have (actually "had" as I just sold it) a reissue Tube Screamer modified by Robert Keeley that I'd recommend to anyone who wants the Tube Screamer tone but, for me, the Valve-Tone is the right pedal. It nails the neck pickup "woman" tone and has a very soulful, organic quality to the overdriven tone. It has enough overdrive for me, but it sure isn't the hottest pedal I've ever heard. I use this single coil guitars (Strat, Tele, Reverend Slingshot) through small (2 x 6V6 or 2 x EL84) tube amps and it sounds great. The only other effect I use is a Holy Grail Reverb pedal and the two get along fine!

Too early to say but it's very well made and I wouldn't expect any problems.

I play mostly blues and have done so for 25 years. I'm not a big pedal guy but I do need something to push my amps into bluesy crunch and overdrive at low volumes for home playing/practice and this pedal is great for that purpose. If it got lost or stolen, who knows? For what I paid for it ($60 on eBay) it was a bargain as these regularly sell for $90-110 on eBay.

Very easy to use: 3 knobs. Find your tone and go.

Great overdriven sound. I have to say that it doesnt color your sound a lot..but it does some. It seems to add alot of midrange to your sound..but it's a good thing. You can set this to a very slight "amp just breaking up" sound to more of a classic rock "old vox turned way up" sound. However, if your looking for a ton of overdrive...then you want the Vox Distortion Booster. Valve Tone is more subtle.

Seems very rugged. Metal casing. Checked the guts and they look clean.

never used it

I puchased this a few years ago. Incredible pedal for what I paid...and excellant pedal at any cost. The others who are singing the praises of this are correct. I've seen that they are going up in value quite a bit and will only get more valuable. I talk to more and more vintage guys who love these pedals.

I play Blues Rock/Classic rock. My setup is an 81 Les Paul into a Fender Super amp. My two overdrive pedals are the Vox and a Tech 21 Double Drive. For more crunch, I use the double drive...but the Vox gets me probably 80% of the sounds I need.

One very bad thing about this pedal: Yellow LED. You absolutley cannot tell if it's on if there is any light in the room. Dont know what the Vox engineer was thinking about when he designed this peice of the pedal.

Overall, I will keep looking for these pedals because I think that they will become collectors items. I had a chance to A/B this and a TS9 and a Fulldrive 2. This blew the TS9 away (just overall better sound) and was a close 2nd to the Fulldrive. All had about the same amount of gain with Fulldrive II offereing a little more bottom end.
I'm giving this an 8 because it needs 2 points knocked off for that LED. I'm guessing that Vox will eventually reissue this however..and hopefully they'll fix the LED issue.

Easy, very good sound. Harrison.
El LED es una mierda. Yellow LED. Very dim, impossible to be seen unless you play in absolute darkness.

Strato > Boss Cs2 > Boss Bd2> Ibanez Ge-601 Eq > Boss Ls (line selector)> Loop: EH Small Stone (70's) > Vox Valve Tone > EH Big Muff > Vox Wah (70's) > EH Small Clone > Delay (I'll see...) > Fender Blackface Bassman.
A bit noisy in any setting. True bypass.

Very rough construction. Beautiful.

Play Rock Pop. Exellent pedal, I really like It's sound, like a Ts9, but much better. Not to much gain range, so I use it with two other dist/ overdrives. I wish It had a real LED, no se ve una mierda ni siquiera cuando ensayas, I can't tell if it's on or off.

This pedal is not very difficult to figure out. Three knobs, chicken heads. The only thing that could have been improved upon is the LED light, but it's really no big problem. It's a little hard to see. So what.

I use a Fender American Series strat into a 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue. The pedal only hums at the highest gain settings. It is transparent, as others metioned and produces great harmonics when set at medium gain to higher gain. I tried her next to a ts-9 reissue, a sparkle drive and others and there was no comparison. The vox won, hands down.

Very dependable in a great chrome case. It has never failed on me and the battery life is phenominal.

Vox is not making this anymore but you can snatch them up on ebay for under 100 bucks. it's well worth it.

I play blues and rock and funk and it's a great match. I might try something else if this pedal were stolen or lost, but I'd be hard pressed to find something of similar quality.
It really does help me to make music because it is so transparent and clear and dynamic. It is true bypass, as well, almost unheard of in this price range. Try this pedal if you can.

I bought it used so there was no manual. But who cares it is very easy to edit patches. Only three chicken head knobes and paramater. It sounds straight forward or what?

I have standard american strats and Les Paul. My amp is a 69 silverface Fender super reverb (4X10"). My other effects are marshall vibroverb chorus, BOSS DD-3 digital delay, Boss super overdrive, VOX V847 wah and finally Ibanez TS-9 reissue which was my pride and joy once upon a time. But not anymore. As a SRV and Hendrix fan, I have only one word to say for VOX 810. PERFECT.....
OK let me explain the development of theis conclusion. First of all, the V810 does not change the original tone which I want to boost. This is very important for me because I am one of the guitarists who believe that the perfect clean tone is essential for perfect overdriven tone. Secondly, there is no doubt that V810's sound has a strong character. I mean, it is not a TS9 imitation but a better balanced blues pedal. If you are looking for extraordinary mid, look around somewhere else. This pedal gives just reasonable amount of mid. Not less, not much. The bass and treble is also very balanced and this enables the player to use power blues chords even with high overdrive. Finally, its true Bypass keeps your clean tone alive when you do not switch it on.

I've never had problem with it. Its chasis seems reliable. In fact I never play without backup and I am using backup for this one too. Once I was using MXR distortion + (you know this little tank), even that time I used backup pedals with it.But I thing it deserves at least 9. It never let me down since I bought it.

I have NO IDEA...Sorry

I mainly play blues and rock. I like to play SRV, Hendrix, Robben Ford etc. I have been playing for almost 12 years As I said before it is a perfect match for blues and rock in terms of light drive or booster. I it were stolen I would definitely look for another V810. Unfortunately I think it is hard to find nowadays. I think, Guitarists they began to realize how well this monster is. And also VOX does not produce this anymore. Soem day this will be a collectible item folks. I'm telling you....
In addtion to its sound the look of the pedal is owesome. Looks like alredy vintage. And of course it is cheap in comparison with other "famous" ones like TS 808, TS 9 or DOD 250. Consequently, I strongly recommend this pedal to anyone who wants to play straight blues and rock. At least try one, you don't lose a thing ha?

3 knobs and uses a standard 9v adapter. Couldn't be more logical to dial in your sound. I A/Bed the pedal to see how close it is to true tube overdrive, see my Sound Quality comments. The ByPass and the construction quality of the pedal is superior, much nicer in most repsects than the Ibanez TS9/808 in my opinon.

I used my reference Strat, with Kinman pups. I ran the pedal into my 100w Rivera, British and American channel, A/B both clean and dirty.
The result was the V810 emulates the overdriven sound of Rivera running dirty on the British side perfectly. I couldn't tell the difference between the amp in high overdrive, and the amp clean with the pedal active. Creamy.

On the American (Fender) channel the story is a lot different. the pedal washes out the notched mids and converts the Fender clean sound to more of a Marshall sound, and as a result it doesn't sound anything like the Rivera clean side in overdrive. Here the Ibanez TS pedals might be a better choice.

So, the bottom-line is, terrific overdrive for that classic British vibe. However, it flatten's Fender amp frequencies to the point it doesn't sound much like a Fender, even when exaggerating the mid-range notch.

Since it's a Vox-British overdrive I guess it should earn a 10.

Again, you might want avoid this pedal if you're doing that American Tweed thing. If you're looking for that classic British overdrive, not grunge or shred metal, than this is your pedal. Considering how well made they are, how cool they look, and how inexpensively they are - wow. Earns a 10 because Vox suceeded in nailing the sound they helped invent with a pedal that's under $100.

It is an overdrive pedal ,not a woman, so it is easy to understand.
Three knobs-level ,tone,gain.You have to tweak depending what you want.True by-pass!!!!!I use an AC adapter so I don`t have to unscrew the bottom to replace the batery...unfriendly way ,that is why I give it a 9.

My set up is a `95 strat with hsh pu`s configuration(Barden`s two-tone
in neck and bridge position and s-standard in the middle)-V810-TS9-Ibanez AF9-TCelectronic SCF(chorus-flanger)-Ibanez AD9-various amps(Fender Quad reverb and H&K Tube 20...)It is not noisy and the sound is awesome.I use in two ways,either as a booster(level max,gain zero)or as overdrive(gain 3o`clock)In both ways it doesn`t color the sound of my guitar as the TS9 does.It has not much gain as TS9.As a booster
it preserves my clean sound(alla Dire Straits,JJ cale).As an overdrive
it starts to do the sound that remainds me to a champagne.The drive is like those bubbles that play in your mouth.Like a happy cat when you touch her belly and caress her.It is not a heavy sound.I can get the sound of Jimi Hendrix`s first notes of 1983...from Electric Ladyland or the sound of Axis:bold as love.For heavier sound I run the V810 and the TS9 together.It works fine with HB and SC pick ups.
I give it a 9 just because HOPE is what we need but to be honest for what it is it does for 10.

Well to be honest I do not gig around as a professional.I ussually play at home or rarely in another place where we can turn tha amps
louder(the house is in the wood).It seems solid but I realy don`t know if the components are of good quality,so I am not going to rate this one

I don`t know so no rate.

I`m playing since I was 9 and I`m 35 now.My first electric guitar was
a `79 strat back in the 1982(gone)I used to play and tried to play Hendrix`s songs and Pink Floyd,Jefferson Airplane,Rolling Stones,Lynrd Skynrd so you got the picture what kind of music inspired me.We all know that Hendrix used fuze face but what he did
with the amps is still a mistery but anyway i can get some sounds with
this pedal.So the point is you love some sounds more today and some sound more tomorrow and the question is what are you going to do with these sounds.You can`t play hard core heavy metal stuff with this pedal.You should try with your gear every pedal and see if you like it
before you buy anything.I tried to explane the sound comparing it to the bubbles of champagne and not to coca cola .It is individual.As for the guy that sold me the TS9 for 15 bucks because he thought that the pedal was not working properly,than I realised he likes heavy metal and he couldn`t get any heavy soundfrom it.We have an expression in Croatia that goes:100 men,100 wonders.

Three Knobs. User Friendly. No need for a manual..

Excellent top notch overdrive/crunch for rhythm work and mild-moderate gain for classic rock and blues. Great for 60's and 70's rock especially. Was not designed for heavy rock/metal so don't mark it down because of that.

Never failed yet. Used for 6 months constant gigging so far.

N/A. Never had to go there..

Overall rating a "10". Please consider this...Even used and now a collectable pedal, they can be had for $100 or less if you find one at auction. TS-9 and many others are similarly priced but aren't as good, and this pedal also has DPDT switch/true bypass, very uncommon in this price range. A future collectable...get one now for $100 or less while you can...

Three knobs, level, drive and tone. Very easy to use.

I mainly use my V810 with three guitars, Fender Jaguar, Epi Casino and Tokai Tele. My amp is early 70's Fender Pro Reverb and I must say that pedal works just great with this setup! Nice smooth and warm overdrive! And VERY transparent. I've tried before with several pedals like Dano, Ibanez, Dunlop etc. but always I end up same conclusion: The pedal itself coloured sound way too much! But with this box I haven't had that kind of problems!! Natural sound of guitar and amp is still there!!! Awesome!!

Metal box, built like a tank. No problems so far.

I haven't never need any kind of support, so...

What can I say. The best overdrive pedal I have ever use! Only thing that decrease points from 10 to 9 is country of manufacture... China.

THIS THING IS GREAT AND EASY TO USE..VOL,TONE,AND GAIN.ITS ALL YOU NEED FOR AN OVERDRIVE.

THE QUALITY SOUND ON THIS LITTLE MONSTER IS DEFFENETLY FANTASTIK
TRUE BYPASS.I USE THIS BABY WIYH A CASINO EPI,LES PAUL,AND A TELE.
ALL RUN THRU A VOX AC30 TBX.I COULD ACTUALLY GET THE SOUND I WANT,LIKE BEATLES 1965-1970 ERA,THE KINKS,U2,SODA STEREO,CURE,SMITHS,SOUNDGARDEN,SRV,RADIOHEAD,PETTY,CRANBERRIES,OASIS,AND MANY MORE.GOOD FOR 60'S AND ROCK ALTERNATIVE MUSIC,EVEN BLUES.

I BOUGHT THIS MONSTER WHEN IT CAME OUT PROBABLY 1999 I THINK AND I HAVN'T GOT A PROBLEM SINCE THAN SO I THINK IS RELIABLE.

NOT YET DEALTH WITH,NO PROBLEMS YET...

I PLAY 60'S,BLUES AND ALTERNATIVE MUSIC AND THIS TANK DOES THE JOB,FORGET THE TUBE SCREAMER WHICH I HAD AND SOLD IT,IT WAS NOT THE REAL THING I WAS LOOKING UNTIL THIS MONSTER CAME OUT,IT DOES MAKE MY MUSIC SOUND THE GOOD IF NOT THE BEST ESPECIALLY WITH THE GEAR I HAVE WHICH IS A CASINO,LES PAUL AND AN AMERICAN TELE,ALL HOOK TO MY BEAUTIFUL RE-ISSUE VOX AC30 TBX.ALL MY STUFF SOUNDS VERY INTELECTUAL,SO BEAUTIFUL THAT MAKES MY WANNA CRY. IF YOU COME ACCROSS ONE TRY IT WITH YOUR GEAR,FEEL IT,AND TASTE IT.I THINK THEY DISCONTINUE THEM SO YOU MIGHT GET IT USED,SOORY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE
YOU MISSED IT NEW,THE ONLY WAY YOU'LL GET IT IS USED...///0-0\\\ PEACE AND LOVE...

Three knobs- level, drive, tone. Throw the manual away, or use it as a coaster, mop up spills, roaches, whatever. You won't be needing it, and it's not terribly informative anyway.
There isn't a bad sound in this thing unless you've broken it. Just plug it in and be impressed. There's not an awful lot of variation, other than the amount of overdrive, but it's such a great sound, who cares? The knobs are nice and smooth, the switch feels pretty solid. No worries...

I tried this thing out initially with a crappy strat copy in the store, and it sounded great. So it was no surprise to get it home and have it sound even better with my Fender JD Tele. My spare guitar is a Korean Squier strat, which has always been a little lacking in the treble strings. A little boost on the tone control fixed that instantly.
It's not a Metal Zone, and if you try to make it be one it's just going to laugh at you and make fun of your mullet. What it is is a very natural sounding overdrive with not too much drive, but a sweet, transparent sound that really lets your guitar's natural tone come through. It reminded me of SRV, and a little of Richie Sambora in his bluesy moments. NO, not 'Living on a Prayer'. I got a pretty close approximation of CSNY's 'Ohio' sound too...
I A/B'd it with a Boss SD-1 in the store for reference, and it's got about half as much range on the drive control and sounds less aggressive and much clearer, more 'retro'. Turning it on kinda makes your guitar sound like a bigger, meatier version of its clean sound. It's been described as a pedal for people who like the sound of their guitars, and that's about right. It really seems to bring out the nuances- the 'strat-ness' or the 'tele-ness', rather than covering your guitar sound with 'Valve-tone'.
Now here's the weird part. Although the pedal sounds totally natural on it's own, when I ran it in my effects chain-

DOD Classic Fuzz->Crybaby wah->Valvetone->Danelectro Dan-Echo

it had a really strange effect on the DOD Fuzz. Now this is a Fuzz pedal, right? It's a nasty, evil fuzzy disgusting thing that crackles and fizzes and only does lo-fi, but when I ran the Valvetone as well, expecting a slight boost- POW! smoother than James Bond's pick up lines!
It cleaned up all the high-end scuzz and gave me a clear, smooth, sustaining, saturated-but-controlled sound that was miles away from anything you'd expect from a fuzz pedal. Cool.
There's a little background noise, especialy when you dime the level to do the tubescreamer thing with a tube amp, but not so much that it gets in the way, and much less than on other ODs.
Most of my initial trying out was done on my home amp, which is a Laney GC 30 30W SS amp, set clean, but the sound was equally good on my gigging/rehearsal amp, a Fender Bassman 135, (channels bridged, flat out, master on 2-3) although the character of the amp did alter the tone slightly.

The metal casing looks similar to the Vox wah pedals- die-cast base w/ chrome top, so I have no worries about that. The circuit boards and soldering look very neat. The switches are a little suspect, according to people who've had their pedals longer than me, so we'll see... It isn't going to be hard to switch out though, it's just a regular MXR/EH type switch. Nine because it's only a few weeks old and only time will tell...

Never tried. They don't make 'em any more, so getting a replacement is out. I'd like to ask them what the hell they were thinking discontinuing such a great pedal...

I've been playing the best part of ten years, but only recently have I developed such insatiable gear-aholism. I've played all kinds of things, from 60's garage rock to Metallica covers over the years, but mostly when I buy gear now it's to get the sounds I want, and the band can go eat doody. Saying that, every guitarist in the world needs a good, natural sounding OD, and this one is the dog's pods.
If this thing were stolen I think I'd have to go all freakin' Arnold Schwarzenegger on whoever did it. "You stoal my peddel, now I haff to kill youer whoal freakin' fammily!" They don't make these anymore, like I said, so it's not like I can go buy another one.
Fair enough, some people can't be bothered tracking down rare stuff, or can't understand what's wrong with just buying a Boss pedal, and that's fine. There are plenty of good OD pedals around, but I've never played one this good. My one piece of advice would be to get a 9V adaptor, because you'll never turn this thing off!

a stamp box with 3 knobs,so easy.

i use it with my lonestar stat, and l love the tone by using the neck pick-up.warm, smooth and so sweet. in addtion, comparing with my marshall bluesbreaker ( origiall black box), the vox has more gain, and the control knob does its job very well. i only use bluesbreaker when i only need light overdrive level. i have not got the chance to try a ts-9 or fulldrive cos they are too pricy.

just have it used for half of a year,so...

it suits my bluesy taste very well and you also can play some funky rock riff upon them. i used to have the vox distirtion as well but i sold it late cos i more go to the overdrive, and i would like to sell my bluesbreaker as well if it is not getting rare. now i am thinking it is not worthy to spend more on a effect unit,eccept it is a wah.

Simple to use, cool chicken knobs.

Sounds great with a Les Paul into VHT Pittbull in clean mode. Huge sustain, no noise, sweet distortion with a load of tone. It doesn't affect your guitars tone at all. Distorts really weel a bass too!

Trust it.

I guess it's not needed at all, cause it lasts for ever. It is so, damn well built.

If you want a good piece of gear just buy it, it will never let you down and it will never cause you problems of any kind. Much fatter tone than the Tubescreamer.

Very easy... just three knobs. My only complaint here (and this is very minor) is that the LED can be kinda hard to see if the unit is on or not. This is because the surrounding chrome reflects the lights of your studio into the LED making it look questionable if it is on or off.

Very very nice. Smooth overdrive, but not high gain or even medium gain for that matter. It is quiet and sounds great in front of a Big Muff to get that over-the-top sound. BUT...
I swapped back and forth between this thing and my DOD Juice Box. No matter what setting I put the Vox at, I could tweak the DOD to sound EXACTLY the same. I could also get my DOD to do things that the Vox couldn't do. For a few brief moments I thought the Vox sounded nicer, but then I'd switch back to the DOD and wonder if I was just hearing things. My DOD is about 1/3 the price of the Vox, so I sold the Vox.

Built like a tank. This is the only good reason IMO to buy the V810 instead of the DOD Juice Box.

Very good unit. Looks beautiful. Sounds smooth. But you get better bang for your buck by buying the DOD Juice Box.

A chimp could figure out how to use this pedal! People who have trouble operating a Fuzz Face might be thrown for a loop by the Valvetone's third knob, however.

This effect is pretty quiet and has a true-bypass wired footswitch so it won't degrade your tone when its switched off (a necessity). I've used this pedal with a number of guitars and amps live, in the studio, and at home practicing. In every situation, without fail, this pedal has sounded excellent. My favorite combination is a guitar with humbuckers (like my ES335) through an amp that's starting to break up (like my Marshall 50W Suprelead) and the Valvetone's gain set at about 2 O'clock and tone knob almost maxed. However, its great for adding gain to a clean Fender too. The bottom line is that this pedal does what a good O.D. should, it lets your guitar and amp's tonal characteristics through (in other words, its very transparent).

Its made in China, which I used to associate with cheap quality. However, there seems to be alot of really high quality, well made musical products coming from overseas these days and this pedal is no exception. The metal casing is rugged and the switch looks like it will last a long time. The knob shafts turn easily and feel pretty solid. Unless you really abuse your gear, I doubt you'll need a backup. This pedal is very tastefully designed and looks great next to my Vox Wah.

This pedal rules for classic rock and heavy blues type stuff or anytime you want to hear your amp louder and dirtier. It works well as a clean boost too when you set the gain to a minimum and dime the volume. The tone control doesn't seem to be especially versitile but works for adding or subtracting high end bite. I used to use a Tubescreamer Reissue but always thought that it compressed and altered my basic tone a little too much for my taste. I know what some of you might be thinking; "you gotta have an original TS808 or TS9, dude!" Well, my friend has two vintage TS9's and I did a lengthy comparason between them and the Valvetone and I thought that the Valvetone sounded a little less compressed and more natural. I also used to have an old Marshall Guv'nor O.D. pedal(an original one) but sold it as soon as I heard the Vox, no contest! I have never compared it with any botique boxes (Fulltone Fulldrive, Klon Centaur, Menatone etc..) so I don't know how it matches up but as another reviewer said, I can't imagine them being much better. If it was stolen or lost, I would be very unhappy. I don't think that these are being made anymore and I've noticed that used ones go for way more than the originals sold for (and I got mine on sale originally). If you see one for a good deal, snap it up and if you want to sell yours , E-mail me.

3 knobs: Level, Tone and Gain. I give it a nine for the same reasons as everyone else: Yellow LED can be difficult to see (but looks cool) and the need for a screwdriver to change the battery. No big deal. Also a jack for a 9-volt adaptor to save those batteries. It's true, it is easy to get good sounds right out of the box, but work with it. You can get GREAT sounds with a little extra effort. More on that...

I'm playing mostly a Gibson Les Paul Jr Lite with P-100s, but I also have a Rickenbacker 360/12 and an Epiphone Dot. My main setup is a P.E. Yardbox=>Vox 847 Wah=>Vox V810 Valve-tone=> Boss Tremolo through an Ampeg Reverberocket reissue. At first I was afraid there wasn't enough gain. It seemed like I always had the gain turned up all the way. Then I realized how much interplay there is between the volume and gain. I never had the volume up high enough. Just boosting the volume gave me more headroom on the gain. Now I always keep the volume up halfway (12 o'clock). This seems to maintain a consistant volume from my guitar (compared to clean), but gives it that overdrive boost. In fact, with my Dot, I often have the gain down all the way and it's still quite beefy. I think another guy said that this pedal is for people who like the sound of their guitar. That line pretty much sums up the pedal! No problem getting those British sounds (with the guitars I have): The Jam, Oasis, Ride, Stones, Kinks, The Who, even some T Rex and The Cure(e.g. Never Enough). Add the Yardbox for soloing and you've got a great Cream or Yardbirds lead sound. My Les Paul Jr actually sounds like Rickenbacker-era The Jam with this pedal (not to mention my...well, Rickenbacker). I haven't noticed any noise when the pedal is engaged. Oh, it also works GREAT with the Vox Wah. I won't go anywhere without this pedal. Is it over the top to say it's a work of art?

It's a pretty heavy-duty pedal. I've had it for a year and have not had any problems. The knobs seem a little bit on the flimsy side and vulnerable up there on the top. Well, "Flimsy" might be an overstatement, but I keep it in the original box for travelling because of this.

I haven't communicated with Vox.

I like to play British Pop from pretty much any decade from the 60s on. I couldn't imagine a pedal being more perfect for this style. I compared it side-by-side with the V830 Distortion. I just dug the sound of the Valve-tone. The V830 seemed a bit muddy, though it did have more gain. If anything happened to my Valve-Tone, I would be very bummed out but immediatly shell out the $110-$120 that guys are getting for the "New Old Stock" on Ebay. If you're looking for a good, crunchy-yet-transparent overdrive in a gorgeous, shiney package, I have two words for you: Get It. --------NOTE TO MATTSTER: Do punt the FuzzFace and get a Yardbox.

Plug it in and go! 3 chicken head knobs so you can easily see where they are pointing... fanastic sounds straight out of the box! Only gripes (it says be critical) are the yellow LED is cool but hard to see under some stage lighting... and you have to unscrew the base to fit the battery.

Amazing! I use it between my Les Paul and a Fender Deluxe Reverb and it sounds superb... I've also used it in the studio with a tweed Fender Pro Junior and it sounded huge! You can set it to boost the level and sustain too much distortion - great for driving the amp into feedback for those Neil Young moments... also great for Kinks / Who type sounds... I love it!

No problems with it, doesn't squeal like other pedals I've had... cool chrome casing, quality switch... built like a tank but infinately cooler!

No problems so no need to call...

I got it in a sale (I think the lsit on these was around #70 to #80) and it's the dogs bollocks as far as I'm concerned... I play in a retro-sixties-timewarp and this is the business - Kinks / Who / Stones / Neil Young / Dylan... this does everything I want and does it very well. I got a Fuzz face recently to add a different colour to my palette (Purple Haze?) but I think I'm going to punt it... this baby's more fun! If it got stolen I'd hunt the bugger down and politely ask for it's return... don't think they make 'em anymore, which is a real shame....

This is easily the BEST overdrive pedal you will find - I have tried many trying to find not a distortion but a tube overdrive sound for my all - tube Vibro-King Fender, which is not a master volume control amp and I cant turn up to "5" everytime I want a nice tone.The V-810 sounds very natural to me-it does not take the place of the amp turned up-but such a good simulation.So simple to use - every setting sounds good

No noise what so ever- great tone - lovely overdrive tones - I use it with the Vibro-king and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a TopHat Club Royale

Appears to be reliable and solid-a nice pedal if you can one!

N/A

If you can find one of these get it - you will be glad you did

Using this is very easy, only 3 knobs (Tone, Level and Gain). To change the battery your have to remove screws and remove the back cover, a primitive system but pretty reliable. The LED could be bigger or brighter, like in a TS9. The pedal looks very cool and vintage, it has a durable chrome cover and a true bypass (better than the TS9). I don't need any other control or switch in an overdrive.

The sound quality is extremely good, in fact the best overdrive i've ever used (and I always try all I can). I'm using both Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Strats, as well as other guitars with both valve amps and transistor amps. Not noisy at all. The make clear the sound it produces I'll compare it to the TS9 which I also own. The Vox is more dynamic (very important in an overdrive!) and lets you hear the chararcter of your guitar and technique much better than the TS9, which was my favorite till now. I mean there's quite a lot of difference between the two, from the first time I plugged the Vox I realised it was far more natural and valve-like. I'll sell my TS9, no longer needed!

I haven't used it in a gig so far so I can't tell, seems to be very well built.

Don't know, these are no longer made.

Perfect overdrive for me, I can't compare it to a Klon or a handmade very expensive overdrive but these can't be much better. I've been playing 8 years. I play blues, classic rock (stones, lou reed... ) and country. I've used and tried all the overdrives I've been able to, since it's (for me) the more important pedal for an old rock'n'roll and blues sound. I really helps you to make music and improve your playing because it's SO dynamic. I can't believe it's so cheap and unknown compared to the TS9.

Stupidly simple to get a great tone out of it.

The first time I plugged it in I knew I had a keeper. It immediately became my crunch rhythm pedal. I just bought a second as a backup. My Les Paul -> Valve Tone -> Super Reverb is getting a great British Invasion tone. Into my Marshall small box 50 the tone sounds closer to AC/DC. I can't complain.

It looks well made, but I've heard of problems with the footswitches. I bought a second as a spare just in case... I love the pedal and use it allot so if the switch goes I wanna be prepared. I'm giving it an 8 just on perceived reliability as I've had no problems yet.

N/A Bought it used and they are no longer made.

Like I said it immediately became my crunch rhythm pedal. I've been playing 25 plus years. My main guitar right now is a '88 Les Paul flame top RI, though I also play a Heritage H-535 and a number of strats. My main amp is a '66 Super Reverb. I'm curently using a Fulltone FD2 TR100 for leads and VooDoo labs sparkle drive for clean boost and also top boost the Valvetone (a cool tone as well). If it were lost or stolen I'd plug in my spare and by another as a spare!

Easy to use, basic set up

I have been trying a lot of effects, and I use a lot of different guitars and amps, from Fender, Gibson + others, and clean to dirty.
Too many to specifiy.Les Pauls, Strats, Hofner, single + humbucker, Tele, etc.
This pedal, is in my opinion, unknown and under rated.
I have found a very nice and simple set up using the Vox then into TS10.
The Vox COMPRESSES more than most pedals, and this is a big part of its character. You can, for example, set it for low gain and then drive the TS 10 (or other), or just crank it and use it stand-alone.
It gets a great tone, and you may well like it more than a TS 9/10, etc (although they are quite similar), and like pedals in this class, is an overdrive rather than a fuzz/disortion, although at full gain will sound closer to that kinda tone.

Use it for pushed overdrive (SRV-ish), or try my chain and drive another pedal. The reason this is cool is because you can use either the Vox, or the TS10, etc, by itself, but using the Vox to drive the NEXT pedal will give you full on sustain and scream. Simple but effective set up.

Seems robust and road worthy.

The yellow LED is dim, so not too helpful for "on" status.

I play everything from totally clean and twangy (Shadows?) to Hendrix, Cream and Free!

The pedal is good for imitating Marshalls at 10 (without the gain), as well as very good tone shaping (see before). The use of the two pedal combo gives you access to a huge range of tones from simple o/d to shred without having to have a heap of dedicated pedals, and for a simple gig, use by itself.

I came across this pedal a bit by accident "on special" very cheap, but it is one of my favourites, the compression is its main difference, plus the tonal quality. My favourite pedals at present are the Vox, the TS 10 and an Ibanez SD9. I have made a clone TS9, and even put in the original op amp chip, but!! other chips sound better, and I think the TS10 sounds better. SRV moved to a TS10 as well as his TS808/TS9, and he knew which end was up! TS9s are good, but don't get hung up on them, and it is possible that many other pedals, (and even variations within one particular type) are worth listening to.
I would get another Vox if this one went west.

Aaaah...the V810....Very easy to get a vintage rock sound out of this bad boy. 3 Knobs: Level, Tone, Gain. Adjust them to get your sound...it's that easy. Quoting another review, the secret's in the Gain knob.

You like Free? You like Paul Kossoff, one of my personal favorites? You'll like this pedal then. Like yet another review says, which I'll add to it, think late-sixties British hard rock. I use a 1970 Les Paul Custom with Rio Grande pickups(and plan on getting a Les Paul Classic soon) into a Laney Pro Tube 50 head and a Peavey 4 x 12 cabinet. This pedal gives a bit more brightness to my already bright sound without overkill of high end. I use other guitars also, so I'll rate it based only on the Les Paul/British Amp sound, the AC/DC sound.

This thing is built well, in a cool chrome metal and black rubber housing with the VOX logo on it. There's an amber LED which seems to stay on forever, as this thing's easy on batteries. The switch works well also.

N/A......Never dealt with them..I assume that, since it's a British company, correspondence with them could be difficult....But I could be wrong.

I play anything from alt. country to good hard rock. I'd buy this pedal in a second if it were lost or stolen. For the money, as an overdrive pedal for non metal styles this can't be beat. Think of it in the same light as the value of a Big Muff to grunge and alternative players. This thing kicks the crap outta most OD pedals I've ever heard, including many costing twice to three times as much. Do yo'self a favor...go get one.

3 familair knobs.... level, tone, gain. No manual needed.

Sound really natural and musical... A bit noisy on most extreme setups but taht is expected form any kind of overdrive/distortion tweak it and you get nice tone!
Sounds really great on single coils, if you're playing blues this is a must have with single coils. Also tried it with rails single coils... great round warmth there also, with humbucker a bit of edge but still warm tho less round sounding. You can get tom Petty-ish sound with minimal tweaking if this is waht you're after... your guitar still sounds like itself after going through it only with better warmth to it hard to describe try one! TONE!

Don't know, I expect it to be reliable... teh switch is easy to replace if it ever fails me... but I take care of my gear.

Never dealt with them

This is a great match for blues and for adding that bit of warmth without much overdrive. I've been playin for 10+yrs, my gear list is online at http://www.angelfire.com/pq/glorbz/BunkerStudio.html
stolen or lost I'd like to find another! I love teh fact that it's true-bypass... also must say I really like how it looks also! I bought this one from liking Vox's Distortion /Booster so much... same housing only different guts. If you use a tele or strat this is something to seriously consider... with humbucker it sounds well but I prefer the Distortion/booster for humbuckers... (I don't really use humbucker for blues but more for rock so it makes sense for me) If you can find one for under 65$ shipped try it you deserve to give it a chance.

very simple to use, i think even americans could manage it.
nice sound. but thats it - just NICE!

controls are extremely subtle the tone control probably sweeps the smallest amount of frequency i have ever heard. the gain is mild and 'nice' - definately a mild overdrive pedal nothing more..
used with a fender jaguar, peavey bandit, big muff, digitech whammy/wah, boss tremolo. And sometimes with a semi-acoustic guitar with a fishman pickup (not nasty piezo)
the pedal is limited to one sound, unfortunately. but the one sound it does get is excellent hence high mark.....

sturdy little box - long baterry life

never had to..

I got it for 25 pounds - about 18 dollars i think, at a guitar convention in london, england. so i snapped it up know ing that it was about 1/3 the normal price.
anyway, its pretty irrelavant in my setup now so i'm selling it - for #65, so a nice profit will be made!!
- alt rock / grunge, bands like smashing pumpkins, foo fighters, placebo, muse, radiohead, sigur ros. not ideally suited to the music i play, so selling it will make way for delay/reverb. i'm thinking of getting the ZOOM RFX1000 or 2000 - if anyone has any idea how good they are please contact me. (one review on this site)

How easy it to get tone out of? Too easy! The Level control is basically a boost or volume; the gain adds distortion; tone is a nice EQ control. The EQ is balanced towards the treble end (I believe because it favors that Voxie type of tone. The manual was great. Came in all the right languages with all the right pictures, lines, and stuff.

I run a Reverend Rocco (yummi!) thru a DOD 280 Compressor --> Wah pedal --> vox Valve Tone --> either a HiMu 7 watt combo or my work-in-progress, a DIY 20 watt 2x6V6 amp (2x10" speakers, Jensen C10Q's).

I am not a young stud anymore, so I was looking for something to just add a bit of dirt and edge to an already nice, clean tube tone for leads and rhythm. With the compressor set to just below average compression and plenty of level, the amp set to 5-6, I can cop some wonderfully juicy blues-tube crunchiness. If you push the distortion level much past 12 o'clock, it really starts to get out there -- but in a nice way. Push the level into the afternoon part of the dial and it just sings and sings and sustains like crazy. With the compressor set a little higher than halfway, I can get swirling spikes of feedback and awesome harmonics. I found that if I was too timid (keeping the volume level on the amp too low) the distortion and break up started way too soon. When I set the main volume up past halfway, and increased the compression a bit, I had more control with the break-up level. If you twist the tone knob past 12 o'clock, it really starts to rain down needles. Shimmering British needles of overdrive. Back it off a bit and you have that early 60's Beatles bit. Chimey, crunching tone.

And the best part is I can hear the sweet tones of my axe thru the whole thing. Single coils (mine are coil tapped humbuckers) sound excellent. the 'buckers are a bit big, but dial off some low end on the guitar and it sounds lovely.

Working that Wah (using a GCB-95 now but I'm casting about for a Teese RMC-1... got one to sell?) sends the whole set up in to twisted squawking furies of shrieks and feedback. With a bit better wah I can almost cop Jeff Beck doing 'Aint Superstitious.' It's pretty damn quiet, but it is a distortion pedal, so there is a bit of noise there.

I like it.

Looks like a vox pedal (shiny stainless steel with a black rubber cover panel. As one reviewer mentioned... very sexy! When I look down, I love what I see (not that cheesy day-glo, mary kay colored pedal like most are... this is a manly looking pedal). It would hold up fine.

It's discontinued. Getting darn valuable as people discover their value and tone (better than some Tubescreamers). Don't rekon I will ever call the company.

Styles: Blues/Rock/noodling homebrew. Adds a nice edgey element to my mostly clean playing.
25 years of playing -- mostly acoustic.
Own a tenor by Gibson, Airline Cheese-ball amp-in-case.
Larrivee OM-5
Reverend Rocco
I listened to several other distorto pedal (Ross Distortion, TS-whatever, Boss MT stuff, Tube Works Real Tube. It has a nice controllable tone and adjustability..plus it doesn't color my tone at all.
I wish it had a bit more low end in the EQ, and like all overdrives, I wish when the gain was set to 'zero' I wish it didn't distort the tone at all... but that is really a non-issue
I love the way it looks, and I'd rather look good *ha ha*

notihng can be easier than 3 knobs vol/tone/drive

damn Kickass....think vintage blues rock, warm, classic, undoubtedly a Valve tone.....better than a lot of leading brands' overdrive pedal i used...

metal casing...chrome...its a beauty...wat can u say...

its just drives like a tube man....from my 62' jaguar reissued, fitted with 2 x seymour duncans JB jr stack, to my Fender Bronco...boss compressor/sustainer > zoom 5000 hybrid distortion > vox drive > Jim dunlop 535q > zoom 5050 choir > amp......kickass

duhh
if you cant get a good sound from this box
-do us all a favour-GIVE UP NOW!
very responsive controls.The secret is in the amount of gain

forget heavy meatal.Think
velvet underground or british rock.This thing has the best warm
crunch factor of any pedal i have ever heard.Breaks up perfectly.
Great combination over a clean Fender/boogie sound.
for some reason this pedal makes my signal chain sound good ,even when it 's not turned on--YUM

how can a pedal that looks so damn sexy not be reliable.

10 points for inventing such a machine.
now vox,if you had any brains-you would reissue these again.
That way,some dog wont be tempted to steal mine

been playing for 20 years and this thing is perfect.
for rock /alternative this is sonic nirvana
Get one and worship it!

This is the BEST overdrive pedal for a guitar with single-coils & a Fender amp.
'Nuff said.

I found a TS-808 in a shop and was getting ready to shell out the $280 for it when the Vox caught my eye. I decided to try it out because I had heard good things about it....but I wasn't prepared for what I heard.
This pedal SMOKED the TS-808 so badly that I HAD to but it. Sure was nice to have $200 left over!

I've had this thing for a year and must have used it on 75 or 80 gigs in that time. Changed the battery ONCE!

Vox has a customer support department?

This is the best overdrive pedal I've ever tried in my 24 years of playing guitar.
I use it for blues & roots-rock stuff, play Telecasters through a '67 Twin Reverb, a '68 Deluce reverb, or a '70 Vibrolux. I've also used this pedal with a Jerry Jones U2, a Silvertone hollowbody, and a few other guitars with single-coils. I don't own any guitars with humbuckers, so I can't tell you how well the Vox would work with them.

I had a Klon Centaur and I sold it on eBay after having this thing for 3 months. This pedal actually gives a better low gain boost than the Klon!
I'll take one point off for the footswitch, which makes a slight popping noise, but otherwise this Vox is THE overdrive for me.

No brainer... gain, vol, tone

The Valve-Tone has become one my essential pedals... It just nails the barely-clipped out tube amp tone. I have found it works great on my '65 Twin, '65 Vibrolux Reverb, other clean amps that don't break up easily. It actually sounds & responds like a real overdriven amp. My TS-9 just isn't as transparent at lower gain settings. The Valve-Tone is lower gain & retains the clean tone pretty well. The tone just fattens up as the volume on the guitar is rolled up. The Fenders have a bit of a scooped sound & the valve-tone helps fill in the mids a bit as well. I use it to handle the VOX AC30 parts, the crunchy rhythm parts, & powercords. Settings: Gain-0, Tone-2, Level-10. I use Joe Barden pickups most of the time which have plenty of output. With a stock strat, I usually kick the gain to 3 or 4.

For higher gain & solos, I put the TS-9 or Fulldrive2 ON TOP OF the valve-tone. The cool thing is it also works well to drive partly driven tube amps into full distortion. It sounds great on my Matchless HC/30.

Chassis is heavy duty, but the rest is cheap quality. It's a MUST to install a Carling or Fulltone switch, switchcraft jacks, & a RED LED so you can see the damn thing on brighter stages. I own two & both switches blew out in no time... Now they are pretty SOLID.

It's a pedal... If it breaks either fix it yourself or throw it away. You don't want to deal with VOX/KORG anyhow. (When they say "Backorder", they really mean they are getting ready to plant the trees that will be used to make the boxes that your parts will be shipped in.)

I have used this pedal for a few years now & I like it as much now as the day I bought it... I really can't do without it, especially when I'm using the clean blackface Fenders. Best part is that you could score one for $30-$40 for the longest time because everyone overlooked them. However, it seems they are going up in value now that they are discontinued. Enough said... OUT.

Very simple, 3 chicken head knobs, great tones are easily acheived w/
numerous settings. "True-Bypass" switching is something that the TS-808 and numerous pretenders cannot provide. Normally it costs hundreds for nearly "any" pedal featuring true-bypass. A "huge" plus!!

Amazing creamy overdrive that sends chills down your spine. AC-30 tones are quickly dialed in and Ibanez TS-808 like drive is also
attainable with minimal knob twisting. Tonal spectrum is huge on this
pedal!!

Housed in a nice shiny chrome casing & built like a tank!

Does Vox have customer support?

This pedal is great from classic rock tones to much heavier & dirtier
overdrives. It coinsides wonderfully with other pedals due to the "True-Bypass" switching. Blues players will never turn it off. If it was lost or stolen.....ouch........I would try to replace it, but I doubt I would have any luck finding one. Just a great pedal and an extremely good value. $400 for a TS-808 or $50 for this?? hmmmm.. this
pedal blows it away in overall value "and perormance". (and I love my TS-808) Good luck finding one!

Very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. No manual.

As for my setup: I use a Fender Stat Ultra Plus, Fender American Standard Stratocaster, Charvel Fusion, and a Washburn acoustic. My guitar signal goes thru an A/B box, the A channel goes to a Fulltone 70, Vox V810 Valve-Tone, Boss Metal Zone, SansAmp GT2, Chandler
Tube Driver, Dan Echo or Echoplex, DeArmond volume pedal, and finally a Rocktron Intellifex. The B side goes to a Sabine tuner. I run 2 Marshalls in stereo (JCM 800 combo and Marshall Bluesbreaker). The Vox V810 Valve-Tone is extremely quite and does not color your signal. You get the sound of your guitar with as much of the effect as you want. I replaced my Fulltone Fulldrive 2 with the Vox, the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 sounded great on the lower notes but had a tendancy to sound thin when playing higher notes. To my ears this pedal sounds fantastic! Tone, note defintion, warm, fat, bite, it's a great pedal.

Don't know, from what I have read the Vox pedals are very well made. I am planning on buying another one, just in case.

Have not worked with them.

I have been playing for about 26 years and play all styles of music. If the Vox V810 Valve-Tone were stolen I would buy another one. The pedal inspires you!

For me it was very easy to get a smooth distorsion but with great attack and much overtones. It's got three knobs on it: Level, gain and tone. Level is just a volumecontrol and it doesn't affect the sound much for my ears. The gain control is from very soft distorsion to much distorsion (blues and rock) - this is not a Metal-pedal.
The tone control is very effective... just turn on the knob till you are satisfied with the result and then start to play!
The only thing that's bad with this pedal is that its checklight (the LED-indicator) is shining very weakly, so it's very hard to see if it's active or in bypassmode when you play in daylight.

I have used this pedal in Big Bandgigs for solos and also for playing chords in rockmusic. It's not noisy for beeing a distorsionpedal and you can hear that it's a quality product. I'm very satisfied with that kind of sound.

It's very roughly made and it's very robust.

I've been playing for eleven years and I think that if you're looking for a distorsionpedal with a good sound and you're playing , blues, jazz and rock this is it.

Stupidly easy to get a good sound. Just twidle and play. Puts the RI TS-9 to shame. Love that true bypass.

Using a variety of guitars and amps. Sounds very good. I use it as a lead pedal or as a light OD. Very smooth yet toothy. No midrange honk like the TS. It is still solid state, so no 10!

Sometimes can go pop (crappy switch), but plays like a champ. The chicken head knobs make it easy to adjust on the fly too.

Never had to use them and probably wouldn't. The "manual" is great if you like opening a map to find your language. Then once you find it, you realize the manual is totally worthless!!!

Well, I think this box is superior to the heralded TS-9 re-issue. It ads zip to a lead and sounds very good all by itself. Max out the gain and lower your volume pot on the guitar a touch and you are ready for great chord definition and searing leads.

This pedal is really simple to use and rather straightforward in all its functions. All pots run smoothly and they behave in a natural way, going from zero up to ott in a simple, accurate manner. Also -not like DOD - they have pretty simple names for the functions; tone, drive and level (ie Everybody knows what those words mean !!). Everything is simple and easy, just in the lovely old-fashioned way.

I used it with various different guitars and all of them sounded different through it.Not too noisy and with true by-pass. Although I own and play a Les Paul Standard and a Danelectro U2, my main guitar is a Fernandes Strat-copy, custom wired with a custom-made brass nut, loaded with Fender's Texas Specials single coil pick-ups and it sounds excellent on its own. I play it through a Marshall JCM 600 valve head and a 1*12" cab containing a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. I used to use the amp's distortion, but after I bought the VOX pedal I now use a combination of both. Normally I use an old MXR DynaComp pedal or a BOSS Compressor/Sustainer and then the VOX on its own for slightly overdriven sounds, not unlike a vintage Fender combo, having that little edge and sheen different to the Marshall's own tone. When I want to have something a bit more juicy I use the Marshall's overdrive and if I want to go over the top for solos I would go for both, working at the same time. This gives me a really layered tone with plenty of sustain and guts yet having a very unique voice which sings and rips at the same time. On its own, the Vox sounds great, especially using the bridge pick-up, a tone that is rampant and crunchy, full of that wonderful Strat character that a lot of us really love. To my ears it sounds tighter and a more defiant version of my old Tubescreamer. Does it sound like the real McCoy (ie. a vintage AC30 combo)? I don't think so. I have always loved the tone of this brilliant English combo but this little pedal has no miraculous powers and my Marshall still sounded like a Marshall but in a very special way. I have tried it as well with my Fender Bronco solid-state combo at home and I can say that the lack of valves led the sound to the harsher side of things yet still pleasant. Using it with an Orange valve combo took me back to gorgeous peachy soundscapes again. Would Brian May like it? Maybe. Would The Edge? Probably. Me? I LOVE IT!!!!

I have been using it very often lately and it has been working perfectly all right. Nevertheless the little yellow light looks a bit dim to me. Sometimes I can't really see it on stage. I guess that affects in a way its reliability, doesn't it? Apart from that it is built really well.

I have been playing Psychedelic Rock for a few years now and I have found that this little beauty has helped quite a lot to find my very own sound. It sounds full of character, never brittle but bright, never dull but sweet, never complicated or troublesome but warm and inspiring. Still, if you want to get the AC30 sound go and buy one. On the other hand, using it with your present amp and guitar could lead you to some of the most pleasant and surprising tones ever. I know it, I have done it myself. Do you know something? Finding your own unique tone is probably the best thing that could ever happen to a musician. An excellent pedal to be used and abused.

Very easy to use. Level lets you set it to match vol. on and off. Doesn't affect tone when off - true bypass switch. Other controls are a tone which seems to roll off trebles and a gain You can easily decide what and how much to vary. Gain adjustment is very wide range, but affects volume, so set it first, then vol.

1. Samick Valley Arts Pro Tele - like an Am Std with hotter Seymour Duncans.
2. Humbucker equipped Ibanez Artwood Twin and Les Pauls.
Humbuckers I haven't had much chance with. Suits the Tele, gives it a nice snap and increased sustain and drive nicely for s subtle boost on solos.

Higher gain settings get grainier and probably would suit a low-gain early Van Halen sound rather than Korn, but the pedal's not aimed at that market.

Better sounding than the Danelectro Daddy-O I parted with to get it. There's still what I would say is a slight solid-state sound to it, but it's better than othes and imparts it's own unique tone for variation.

Chrome metal case, jacks and fittings seem good quality. Uses standard Boss type adaptors - I use a PSMS switch supply. I have used it to gig - LED is a little dim, except at night.

Nil

I play old-new rock, blues and modern (non-metal)music so I needed something to go from just off clean to highish gain but not Vai or Satriani. The Vox works so far, and doesn't bite the signal when off. I want to try a real tube-driven overdrive, as I feel it might have a more natural sound.

Duh, really easy to use. Step on it, it goes on.

Honestly, I think this effect is *highly* overrated. I was in the market for an overdrive pedal, and tried out a Fulldrive 2 and Ibanez Tube King before settling on the Vox. I was happy with it for a while, but then it began to annoy me. I found that the Valvetone totally thinned out my sound and made it more trebly. Also, there was not quite enough gain for my tastes. However, it did do a nice job of driving my Yardbox. I ended up trading the Valvetone for a vintage Dod Overdrive/Preamp 250 (the gray one). That was more to my liking, as it thickened up my tone.

Built like a tank, really sturdy.

No clue, never dealt with 'em.

Eh, a decent pedal. I liked it more than the SansAmp, TS-5 and TS-9 I tried, though, not to mention the others. Maybe I'm just not ready for this type of overdrive, who knows. There seem to be enough people in love with this pedal, though, so you might as well check it out. Good price, too. Just not my thing, though.

(If you can hit a button with your foot and turn knobs you won't need the manual)

The sound is ok but i play a bass so i just put the gain to 9:00, Tone to 12:00, and The level i crank it all the way up so i can be heard among the guitars and drums. I own a Ibanez beginners stagestar and i own a small but very loud ibanez amp (don't know what model) so i use the pedals effect and turn the presence on my amp all the way up for a grim sound.

I can depend on it if i ever get a gig (still reforming the band) but if i would need a backup with it i would probably find another good effects pedal to boost the sound.

It hasn't broke yet i think thats good

I play progressive/black metal with a little bit of a blues guitar sound. I'd say it's a good match cause my bass can be heard like the guitars and the drum. I started the beginning of the year and i'm getting very good results with my bass playing and the pedal is helping with that. I just wish it had a chorus effect so i can get a more better grim sound. It's a good pedal i recomend it to any guitarist or bassist who's looking for a boost in sound.

Stompbox ease---what more can you expect?

Great machine. It doesn't ruin your guitar's natural tone, so whether you like blue, metal, grunge, alt., or whatever, it is an excellent pedal.

Due to the lower gain and the fact that it's overdrive, it is not a metal or hardcore pedal alone, but it adds a very pleasurably texture and feel if you use it with your high-gain distortions. If you want to switch to a good rock sound, back it off on tone and gain, crank the volume and feed it into a tube amp on the verge of breaking up. This thing is truly what the other reviews have made it out to be.

One problem is that it can sound weak and crakly, to me, if you don't use a compressor or combine it with a tube amp. I guess this is a matter of taste, though. Definitely a superior alternative to the tube screamer. It will make you sound more down to earth.

Bought it used, had it for some time, and it's not even acting funny. You could probably drop it out the window @ 65 mph, pick it up, and use it. You might lose some knobs, and I wouldn't recommend it because this box is hard to find, no matter how much money you have. Most people that have them would be reluctant to sell the thing for any price, from what I've noticed.

Great flavor. I use it with an Epiphone Les Paul that's loaded with a Duncan George Lynch Screamin' Demon humbucker. I feed it into a Turbo RAT, Arion Metal Master and a Digitech RP20. Used with my Peavey Duel 212's tube distortion, dual distortions in the RP20, and the Turbo RAT, I can get a very high-sustain, beautifully textured insanity tone. Sometimes I use the Vox box with an RP20 clean chorusey tone. Adds a wonderful flavor for church worship songs. Great for such choruses and contemporary worship music--highly recommended. It's not too brutal for the old people, but gives enough punch to excite the young ones.

Fairly simple to use. Three knobs. Pretty straightforward.

I use it primarily with a cheap Epiphone SG Jr. I put a Gibson P-100 pickup in it. My amp is a Rivera Jake Studio Combo with a Marshall 1922 2 x 12 cab. The amp has an excellent clean channel, and the Vox adds just the right amount of natural overdrive. There's no metal buzz. The distortion is from mild to classic rock. I don't fool with the level much. Cranked this setup gives me a nice Led Zepplin I sound. I put the tone on the treble side to get a Doors/Beatles sound. It's perfect for that in between high gain and clean sound.

No problems yet. It seems sturdy.

I play all kinds of rock. This definitely fits classic rock or jangle pop the best. I have been playing for about 12 years. I am always buy and trading new gear. This is the only overdrive I have ever bought. I have been very pleased. I would highly recomend it for its intended purpose (no metal). It really sounds like the sound comes from inside the amp. I did try the vox distortion booster one time thinking that I would love it too, but I hated it.

3 knobs, GAIN (distortion), TONE (more treble to more bass), and LEVEL (the volume output). Pretty darn easy. Manual was there, I think I looked at it. Easy to grab the chicken head knobs. Easy to turn on. Hard to see the ON LED, but fairly easy to hear. 4 screws to change the battery, but I use a powered pedal board, so avoid the need to. Wouldn't mind a little more control over the TONE (i.e. a second or third knob to adjust) but that's more to do with sound quality than ease of use I suppose

Brilliant. I tested this against the Boss Blues Driver, a current Ibanez Tube Screamer, and the Danelectro Daddy-O. The Dano and Boss were elimintated quickly as not being the sound I wanted. I had a little trouble deciding between the Ibanez and the Vox, but came down on the Vox side, as I felt it definately was a more transparent pedal. The sonic characteristics of the guitar came through far better with the Vox. The Tubescreamer just sounded too much like a tubescreamer and not enough like the guitar. And the sound the Vox gets? An overdriven Class-A tube amp. Whether using my Laney VC-30, my Fender Twin, or my Trace Elliot Velocette, my guitar still sounds like my guitar and my amp still sounds like my amp - just with more gain. It's not a metal kind of gain, or a hard rock kind of crunch, though it can do that kind of singing lead. It's more a warm open sounding 60's overdrive. Think early Stones or Beatles White Album (Helter Skelter). I love it. Have had it for a few months now, and just feel like it IS my sound. The one complaint I have is that the click/pop from when you stomp it on does somewhat come through the signal chain. The Vox cost more than any of the other pedals I was comparing it to at the store I was at(including the used TubeScreamer) but as I'd heard that the pedal was discontinued, I was happy to pay the $, and nobody else in the area had one for sale.

Have used it on gigs and rehersals with no backup and no problem for a couple of months. Very sturdy box. Suspect you'd have to try to damage it.

Haven't needed to contact them. As I've heard this is discontinued, I hope I don't need to. Maybe if enough people keep talking about and asking about this box, they'll bring it back though. Based on quality, it sure deserves to stick around.

For my jangle-pop stuff, this is great. I've been playing about 11 years, and use a Ric-12, a vintage Danelectro, a strat and a tele through a Fender Twin, Laney VC-30 or Trace Elliot Velocete. This roars through and for all of them. I'd hate to have it stolen, as I don't know what else I'd buy. Not any of the other pedals I tested it against for sure. I just like this more all the time. It really opens up my sound.

This is a typical distortion/overdrive/boost pedal, so it should be fairly simple to use for guitarists. Three knobs- level, gain, and tone. It has a really cool amber-colored status indicator, which shouldn't be taken for granted especially if you use batteries. Battery access is kind of a pain because you have to remove all four phillips screws off the bottom to replace the battery. I haven't tried it, but you can also use a power adapter.

My valve tone goes after my Les Paul Standard and Crybaby 535Q respectively and goes directly into a Fender Blues deVille 2X12(always on the clean channel). This thing is SUPER QUIET. No Electro harmonix-like noise whatsoever when it is on and it has true bypass switching. This pedal falls into the overdrive/tube-screamer
category. If you're looking for raging metal distortion or fuzz, I would look elsewhere(Try the Boss Metal Zone or ZVex Fuzz Factory). This is easily the best tube-screamer-like pedal out there IMHO. Although I've gotten good results with a telecaster, this pedal works absolutely beautiful with a humbucker guitar like a Les Paul. Think Santana, Jeff Beck, and even John Scofield if you turn the gain to about 25%. I've tried TS-9's and TS-10's(but not the TS-808) and the valve tone BLOWS THEM AWAY. I'll probably get flack for that, but they haven't tried a valve-tone. I can't say anymore but that this pedal does what its supposed to do and then some.

Have had no problems in a year and a half of gigging with it, Although the bottom plate seems to be kind of flimsy. The cosmetics get a big thumbs up though. Its got those cool chicken-head pointer knobs like on a Fender Bassman. I would definitely gig without a backup, but then again, no pedal is safe from some circumstances like stealing.

I've never had to consult with Vox about this pedal or anything else. But sadly, this pedal is discontinued. What a dam shame. I can just see these becoming collectors items on the vintage market very soon. If you find one, buy it or let me know so I can.(!!)

I play funk, '70's style fusion and prog rock and this pedal suits my style perfectly. I have been playing for almost ten years now and a big portion of that time has been spent looking for the holy grail of overdriven tone, and I think I have found it in this little Vox. The only thing I can think of that might be frustrating about this pedal is that it doesn't really boost your'e volume as much as other pedals, it just overdrives it. If I lost or got this stolen, I would buy a couple in a heartbeat. AN EXCELLENT PEDAL.

very easy, 3 knobs-(volume, gain, tone) chicken-head knobs are a plus, makes it easy to turn knobs with your feet. the manual was Ok, not much that one needs to know except dial in your favorite tone and play ;)

I am using this pedal with a squire pro-tone strat (3 single coils) and a Crate VC5115 amp, this pedal goes in front of my Crybaby Wah. this pedal is great!, i play mostly blues-rock-funk and this pedal does it for me...i can get some great growling blues tones out of this. i like hendrix, SRV, Ronnie Earl etc...this pedal can emulate these tones very well...could use a bit more bottom end to help take off the "trebly edge". my amp is based on a Vox type tubeset, and this just compliments my amp so well, this pedal also is VERY responsive to your pick attack, if you bite the strings it bites right back, if you play softer, it stays cleaner. Great response & great tone...just add wah & you're in heaven!

good construction! i like the retro look! and it's been kicked a few times...still going. it would be hard to gig without a backup since these are discontinued now...but yes, i would!

never dealt with them

If you can find one, BUY IT! One of the best bang for your buck deals on an OD peadl i have seen, even if it was $50.00 more..this thing were stolen or lost, i would be playing the DEEP BLUES until i could has true bypass, which you don't find on some $150.00 pedals. If it find another. One minor complaint is the LED light which is a faint yellow color, but i KNOW it's on when it's on! If you want a nice OD not metal distortion, this is your ticket to the Sweet Sound.

3 knobs Level, Gain, and Tone. Pretty standard controls for an overdrive.

This is one of the best overdrive pedals I've heard in 20 years of playing guitar. It has a viceral punch that other, too electonic sounding units, lack. I like a Hendrixy, bluesy and dark overdrive tone -- the level around 10:30, gain at 4:30, tone at around 9:00. Also good for a trebly, mid 1960's, honking, british overdrive tone.

Seems pretty tough.

Works well with my Telecaster w/Seymour Duncan and Fender Vintage pickups and a Fender Blues Jr. Amp.

It's a distortion pedal with three knobs and a button.

Use various Fenders, Epiphones, Gibson, G&L through Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. I had heard great things about this pedal here at H/C, and test drove this at home from a local music store. A/B'ed with TubeScreamer, Boss Turbo Overdrive, Marshall Drive Master. Thought it was very close tonally to the TubeScreamer. Maybe a little less gain, and a little less bass. It did seem to have a "rougher" more analog overdrive, just a tad, mind you, than the TubeScreamer. This is all so subjective, though, to your equipment. I really loved the way my Les Paul played with it. Very transparent overcrive, even maxed out. Chords rang through nicely. Not a heavy rock pedal. Unique.

Looks solid enough. Nice chrome and black box.

I like using a variety of pedals, but at some point I need to stop searching. Maybe I'm there. This Vox pedal is probably the one I'd keep if I had to get rid of all others. It's got a unique tone, has acceptable drive levels for what I do, and makes all my axes sound good. For the price, it's a steal.

Only 3 knobs, it can't possibly be hard...

I love this thing. I've had the Tube Screamer and now I HAVE this. I sold the TS808 to my friend (who by the way has since bought a V810). I'm playing an 88 American Strat through a 59 Fender Deluxe. Wanna know what sweet is?! This is the best blues overdrive that I have ever heard. Not any players here giving bad reviews and it's for good reason. Bar-None the definitive overdrive from which all others should be based upon from now on.

I have had this pedal for 6 months or so, ever since Xmas time last year. I've only used 2 batteries so far and both were lithium. 3 nites a week for 5 months and no qualms, pretty sturdy case, and cool looking too..

This is it, I don't think I'll need tech support, I'm pretty sire the warranty will expire before the pedal will, and my local repair shop says that it would cost about $20 to fix even for the worst problems that may arise.

Overall, I don't think you could get a better box for producing a great milky blues tone, when used in conjunction with a nice reverb. This is it. Don't just take my word for it, there are 12 other reviews on this page and none below an 8. Buy one, its only $50. You'll be writing the 13 great review on this page...

This is about as simple as it gets. Three knobs: level, drive and tone. One switch. If you can't figure it out, too bad for you.

I am playing a '96 American Standard Telecast through an early silverface Bandmaster head, 40 watts. It is a very clean amp, which I like, but it is impossible to get any breakup at a level that won't blast down the walls of the clubs where my band plays. This necessitates the use of a pedal. I tried the V830 distortion booster, but it was way too much for my style. I find the V810 gives a nice growl to my playing while allowing the character of my guitar and amp to come through. It's good for adding bite to blues solos, and as far as chords go, it's really good for getting that "Revolver" period Beatles sound ala "Dr. Robert," "Paperback Writer," "She Said, She Said," etc. The V830 virtually eliminated the bottom end. The V810 does a little, but on the whole it is much less intrusive. True bypass is also a plus.

It seems reliable, although I've only had it a few weeks. I don't have a backup.

I imagine fixing this pedal might be more expensive than what I paid for it in the first place. Still, Vox has stopped making the V810, which makes me wonder whether they won't be getting more expensive. If I ever want to upgrade, I imagine I might spring for a Klon Centaur, about which I've heard great things. But I hope I can get by with this for a while.

For what I'm doing, mid-'60s pop and rock, this is a great pedal. I've been playing for 30 years, although my electric guitar adventures are fairly recent. I also have a Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere, a Leslie speaker simulator, and in tandem with the Valvetone and a solid, no-nonsense tube amp, it is possible to create some real vintage type sounds. It looks old-fashioned, which I like. I love the Fender punch of my Bandmaster, which I play through a Vibroworld 2x12 cabinet featuring 70-watt Eminence speakers. But when I want the option of some AC30-ish overdrive, this is a great, inexpensive addition.

Extremely easy to use. Three-knob, standard overdrive box configuration. If you can't figure it out...you shouldn't be near a computer!

I play in an instrumental rock'n'roll/surf/garage combo called The Treblemakers (www.treblemakers.8m.com), which could be described as "The Ventures On Crack." I'm using a '65 Jaguar (primarily) and a '65 Jazzmaster, and (now & then) a re-issue Strat, along with an original Fender Reverb and a '62 Super amp. The Valve-tone isn't noisy and features true-bypass switching (a must!!) which is something most manufacturers don't seem to care about. This box can do the overdrive thing really well, but I'm using it for a volume & midrange boost for certain guitar parts that need a little extra "cutting power" and thickness. I compared it with several other overdrives (Danelectro, Ibanez, Boss) and found that they all distorted more than I liked, even with drive at zero! The Danelectro in particular sounded quite crunchy with the drive knob all the way down, where as the Vox is so transparent, you can actually set it to match the bypassed tone (if you wanted to). Maintains attack clarity and sounds very organic. Not phony and "painted-on" sounding like a Boss. Compared to a re-issue Tube Screamer, the Vox sounded clearer, less noisy, had a sweetyer tone, and didn't cut bass like the TS. The Ibanez pedals lack true bypass (shame Ibanez, for charging almost double for an inferior effect).

This box is made of metal. Looks very solid and dependable.

Never needed it.

I needed something to boost volume and mids, not a "overdriven tube amp simulation" sound. The Vox fits the bill very well. I used to be a "amp and guitar" kind of guy, but in the past couple of years I've been enjoying various delay devices and fuzztones. I've never owned an overdrive box before because I have always found that they just don't sound like a cranked tube amp. You want that sound? Get a tube amp and put it on 10. The Vox may have been designed to provide distortion, but I'm using it as a "semi-clean boost" and it does this WAY better than other overdrives I've tried. The Vox also does terriffic "ripping speaker" imitations at higher settings (as well as a hilarious "5-watt amp about to blow" impersonation when all the knobs are maxxed out) but I don't have much use for those sounds. I A-B'ed the Vox vs. other pedals and chose it for the way it preserves your original sound and attack without compressing it as much as other OD pedals. It was also the only one with true bypass in the price range. If you've been duped into believing that a Tube Screamer is the holy grail of OD pedals, compare one to a Vox...you'll be surprised.

Being old-school in my gear,I normally hate overdrive/dist boxes. But this is an amazing box.I used to have a tube screamer and thought it was the best representation of a hard-driven tube amp- but it sounded terrible with humbuckers.So my search continued until I found the Vox

I'm using an Epiphone Les Paul through a modded Sovtek Mig50.Being a non-master volume amp, its too loud for practice!As much as I resisted, I broke down and used a boss distortion which was terrible!Just obliterated my tone! This pedal brings out some mighty interesting tones out in guitars. Very balanced volume, Great note definition, very vocal. Even with it maxed, it never sounds heavy-(think Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd on "call me the breeze".

Had it a short while, seems tough.

n/a

Good southern rock box- if your the type who records a lot and you cant seem to get a decent tone (I have the habit of thinking my distortion sounds great but on playback its too distorted!) then this box is for you. Records beautifully and evenly. Especially with a slightly cranked(but still reasonably clean)tube amp. The best thing I can say about this box is its very consistent and you lose the urge to constantly tweak. The volume matches the amp volume too!(which is rare. I know this review is gushing, but any classis tone lover will dig this for both its tone and its price!

three knobs, volume, tone drive.

For its price this is a very good deal. I'm running a tele plus through a crate amp. I first got this pedal because I had a crate hybrid amp. And turning the drive up would be too loud. Thats where this pedal comes in. First, it does what it claims, it sounds valve-like. But it does lack creaminess, but if you set the tone around 9'oclock it could get pretty creamy. With a true bypass circuitry this pedal is versatile. But for some odd reason with the crate gxt100 the pedal was loud. But when a got an all tube 15watt crate vintage club amp, the pedal came alive. There's much more response and feeling you can get when hooked in an all tube amp. The pedal also sounded really quiet. Like one of the reviews, the sound does sound like needles really piney and sharp. You could get an SRV sound out of it; it would sound more trebly. I haven't tried the distortion pedal but for this pedal says it does. Metal heads, and grunge heads go elsewhere. Best to be used with single coils or in my case with lace sensors.

This thing is built like a tank. I suggest using this thing with an adapter, This thing could eat your batteries.

The vox valve tone isn't for everyone. I wanted to stray away from the tubescreamer because everyone is jumping on the SRV bandwagon, nothing against SRV(I think He's one of the greatest) but wanted something to give my tone my own personality. The valve tone was designed to give that boost like a voxac30, it simulates the sound pretty well. I play the blues and this fits perfectly for what I do

This box is "dumb ass" simple. Gain, Tone, Level. Controls are usable, with a gradual increase in each paramter as you increase the setting. Versus some controls that do nothing until you hit about 4, then on to the extremes!

This box sounds awesome! I am using it in front of the clean channel of my Boogie DC-5, and it absolutuely SMOKES! My bass player couldn't believe his ears! Nails the Tom Petty thing, but as you dial in the right amount of gain - you get an excellent crunch happening that is crystal clear. YOU ACTUALLY HEAR EVERY NOTE OF EVERY CHORD! I tried it with cheaper, solid state amps and it didn't sound as good.Kind of "hollow". I think the 6l6 power amp tubes must help the overall tone.

So far, so good. Only had it for a week!

haven't had to deak with them

Best overdrive I've ever heard in 20 years of playing. Crystal clear without being tinny or muddy. Has me scrambling to find Vox amps for the first time in my life. If a chinese produced Vox overdrive emulator sounds this good, the amps must be absolutely "killer".

Easy, dial in the tone, step on the pedal. Just hit an open E and let it ring while you set your sound

Very good. Smooth, yet demanding. Refined, yet heavy. It's just right for a good blues or of simple overdrive. It sounds just wonderful for everything but grunge, alt and metal types. This is overdrive, not distortion. It lets your guitar be heard, it dosn't hog the sound. But be careful, try it out with YOUR guitar and YOUR amp. It works great with my super reverb, but not my H&K. It does solos and rythm, but does better with the latter.

I'm sure it will survive. But you better have a backup strategy. I know from experiance.

Its a great simple, nice sounding, overdrive. I wish everything was what it said to be. If your the kind who wonders why burgers look so much better on the menu at Mcdonalds than on your tray...this is your thing. It does simply what it claims, and I like that.

Easy as any 3 knobber. There are many good sounds all over the place (many settings).

I'm using a Tele, Strat, and ES-335 type guitar and a Fender champion. Sounds best w/ the singles. Noisy is from the singles, not the effect. Opened it up to find six legs on the switch... Yup, it has true bypass. Some people have compared this to a TS9. Can't blame them. On a good day this sounds better than my TS9. I feel more it's more transparent than the TS9. SRV is within reach, as is Peter Green, but it's really more of a Ronnie Earl, Anson Funderburgh, Duke Robillard sound.

It's made in China so I'm not sure how long before it dies on me. It's odd that it's made in China but has true bypass tho. Don't use a backup, tho, since it's never failed on me.

No reason... yet

This is a dirt-cheap alternative to the TS9. Not exactly like it, but pretty close and sometimes even better.

very easy, three knobs gain,level,tone.

I am using this with Patrick Eggle guitars and a 70's Fender twin. This peddle sounds great for light to mid very natural sounding overdrives, worked really well with my twin. It's not very versatile as far as its only really got one tone and drive that cant really be changed much but the sound it makes it makes very well.warm, valvey sound thus VALVE TONE

big shiney chrome box, chicken head knobs. looks pretty strong.

This pedal is really good at what it does which is natural warm crunch/overdrive sounds just what I bought it for so for me its perfect. Metal heads should look somewhere else no fuzz here. Its better than any boss unit ive tried and half the price which brings me onto value for money. id buy this if it was #100 but in fact it was only #40 so I have to give it 10/10 on that alone.

The usual three: gain, level and tone. The manual doesn't offer much, but it's sufficient. Five points off for the almost invisible power light and the fact that it takes 15 minutes and a screwdriver to change the battery.

Damn near perfect for what it does. Whoever said it has a "hail of needles" sound was right. It can also do a nice gentle overdrive. I don't know why folks are comparing it to Tube Screamers and the like -- it lacks that creaminess that most overdrives have. My biggest reservation is that it cuts the low end noticeably. It's really not a super versatile pedal, but it fits my sound very well (Mostly Indie and British style stuff) and has real soul. Many pedals are more versatile but also much blander. Tip: with the gain or tone at zero, it sounds bad, but just above that point it sounds great.

Solidly built, but one of the screws on the footplate doesn't go in straight. Again, the battery is very hard to change, but it seems to last a while.

The best distortion I've found for my needs. From slight to full out, and always with great ATTITUDE. I play lot's of atospheric things but also punk songs - this works great for both. Some questionable design ideas, but it looks cool and sounds like itself, not like every other fuzz.

Easy. 3 knobs and no heavy programming knowledge required. The manual (if you can call the piece of paper they furnish a manual) is more than adequate. This thing is made for morons.

I use this unit with a Fender Blues DeVille. To get good tone with this amp it has to run at earsplitting levels. The valve tone allows me to pull back on the volume without tone sacrifice. My guitars include a Fernandez with sustainer and a custom Lipman. I play mostly blues rock and I find this unit dials in the right tone.

looks tough but time will tell. Made in China, but so is everything else.

I give this unit high marks for price/value ratio. For $49 dont expect a Mesa V twin, but if youre on a budget or dont feel like lugging a 50 lb stomp box to rehearsals, this baby fills the bill and delivers pretty solid tone. As an aside, I auditioned the Vox distortion booster and found it thin-sounding and buzzy. I would avoid it unless you like thin and buzzy.

The usual 3 knobs for an overdrive pedal, and they all respond the way you'd expect. There's an LED indicating when it's on. It can run off a battery or an adaptor.

I played a Strat and a Les Paul through it, into a Twin Reverb. The sound was reminiscent of a Deluxe breaking up, perhaps smoother. Definitely a vintage-type overdrive; it doesn't get heavy or really fuzzy. Think BTO's Taking Care of Business. The tone knob doesn't have an extreme range; every setting is musically useful. It does respond to how hard you pick at lower drive settings. Not a pronounced midrange, unlike most overdrive pedals; even a Les Paul tended to sound clear and cut through, without sounding brittle. Works well with single coils or humbuckers.

I played it for about 30 minutes in a store and am still deciding whether to get it. It might be too close to my Fulldrive 2, or maybe not. But it does the vintage overdrive thing quite well, and does indeed resemble how a valve sounds when overdriven.

it is very easy to get a good sound, even on a small amp.

the sound is very powerfull and strong, it sounds terrific with single pickups.i have been compared the V810 with other pedals like boss blues driver or turbo od and the vox sounds better.

no problems.

it is perfect for blues and rock and roll, very closer to SRV sound. just add a dunlop cry baby and sing play the blues.

It's simple to use the 3 knobs(level, tone, gain) and one stomp switch. However, the pedal I bought (new) does not seem to have adequate space inside for the 9-volt battery.

My setup is: All single coil Tele or Strat through a Fender Super Reverb. I have been using an Ibanez TS-10 Tube Screamer for overdrive, but I was not happy with the loss of low frequencies when the effect was engaged. The Valve-Tone seems to provide the same range of overdrive as the Tube Screamer, and the Valve-Tone has a more natural tone(to my ear) and hardly any loss of low frequencies. Also, the Valve-Tone easily reproduces the harmonics generated by my pick attack.

I plan on using the pedal without any backup. It appears to be constructed ruggedly.

No experience with customer support.

I play a variety of rock, blues, country and jazz. For me, this is the best buy in an overdrive pedal. I tried the Fulltone Fulldrive II and it lacked in the low end and costs $190. The Mesa V-Twin and Tubester DS-1 are probably the best pedals for my musical styles but those pedals are out of my price range.

Three knobs. Level Gain and tone. They do what they say they do.

Used with all sorts of hollow and solidbodies and a crate vintage club50 watt class A amp with two 12 inch speakers. It is so sixties rock I don't know what to do with myself! It can do a tube screamereque thing but it really has it's own vibe. Everybody uses tubescreamers now and I am kind of sick of hearing them. This sounds positively alive. It is warm, sensitive and transparent. I can make it sound like either channel of my amp. (my amp is based on a VOX AC-30 tubeset). Good for blues and rock, smooth enough to use for jazz, and you can get enough bite out of it for country. I use it for a medium gain warm overdrive on the clean channel and for a boost on my drive channel. It rocks!

Hasen't failed yet, but I have only had it three weeks. Never used a battery, just AC power. seems solid. I'd gig without a bakup.

Never dealt with them

I play all sorts of stuff, I don't believe in limits or genres. Music is all the same, the only diffenerece in style is how it is filtered though your perceptions. This thing has a place in everything I play. Harmonically rich and warm it is proably th nicest and most natural overdrive I have used, and I have tried a lot. Probably going to buy another one to have one on either side of my wah and to use for a big gain boost. It's only $50 which is mad cheap for this sort of thing.

Very easy to use, just the standard ol' three-knob layout with an on/off footswitch.

I'm using it with a reissue Fender Bassman and Epiphone Casino and various other hollowbody and solidbody guitars. The pedal works very well with both single-coil and humbucking pickups, without sounding too bright or too dull. It has a definite Tube Screamer quality to it, but with more of that British Bulldog tone. I compared it to my TS-10 Tube Screamer, and as cool as the Ibanez pedal sounds, the VOX had the bigger, nore lifelike tone, with better clarity. Also, unlike the Ibanez pedal, the VOX has true effect bypass circuitry so my straight-through tone isn't demolished when I click the pedal off. Just pure clean tone. That alone was enough to sell me on the VOX. I haven't tried the TS-9 or TS-808 Tube Screamers, but my experience with Ibanez pedals leads me to believe that they probably screw up your straight-through tone when you turn the pedal off too, just like their little brother. I guess Ibanez figures their pedals sound so good that you never need to turn 'em off. I'm glad VOX has their stuff together.

Haven't had any problems with it. Like most others, I'm not crazy about having to unscrew four screws to remove the back panel just to replace the battery, but it's no big deal. Just make sure you have some gaffer's tape handy if you have a tendency to let those tiny screws get away from ya.

If I knew their phone number, I'd call 'em up and tell them how much I like their pedal. Unfortunately, I never keep my my product documentation.

I mainly play bluesy garage rock 'n' roll with rockabilly, surf, and old r&b influences, and the Valve-Tone is well-suited to this style. If anything happened to it, I'd replace it in a heartbeat. What the hey, it's only 50 bucks, right? It looks cool, sounds cool, and inspires me to play better than I would if I was using some generic-sounding distortion. I wish the tone control was a little more responsive, and that I didn't have to turn the volume way up to match the straigh-through volume, but these things are easily worked around. Best overdrive/distortion I've used, and definitely the best-looking.

Using this pedal is a breeze. Level, Gain, and Tone controls, and nothing more. Just when I think I've found every cool tone this thing can offer, I find another one.

I'm using this pedal with a 1965 Fender Showman Amp, and also with a 1994 Fender Super Amp. The Valve-Tone sounds amazing through both of these amps. Guitars include an American Standard Strat, a 1979 Strat, and a guitar that I built myself (Tele-based). All three of these guitars allow me to find new tones that the rpevious one would not. There's virtually no noise from this pedal, and that's a plus. It's easy to conjour up a Stevie Ray or Mike Cambell sound.

This thing is built like my long-gone 1965 Plymouth Belvedere: like a tank. Nice and solid, and it doesn't slide around easily. I could foresee using this without a back-up, providing it had a relatively fresh battery in it.

Never had to call them, so that's saying something. Vox has been around a while, though, and I suspect they'll be around for some time to come.

I play mainly blues, but also some classic rock. This pedal seems to work perfectly for me. I've been playing for over 21 years, and this is the best sounding overdrive I've owned. This pedal would be replaced in a New York minute if anything ever happened to it. About the only drawback is that you have to remove the four bottom panel screws to change the battery. I don't change batteries in overdrives too often, so I can look past this. This pedal will be used instead of the Danelectro Daddy-O I bought about 8 months ago...

The three knob system is simple. If you can't figure it out, you don't deserve to play with it.

I'm using it with a 330 rickenbacker and a small marshall combo. The sound is great. I really like it because I can easily mimic my favorite band, The Beatles. This pedal sounds great on rhythm or lead.

This thing looks really sturdy. Hard metal case, and sturdy footswitch makes me believe this ones well made.

I've only had ti for two days and have never had to call.

I really love this effect. I think it makes a great rock/blues distortion. I would buy this again, no doubt. I really love the look of this thing. It looks sooooo cool. I do wish that the little light that shows when the effect is on were another color. Yellow is a little hard to see in the light.

Super simple. Volume, Gain and Tone. My only complaint is that the Yellow LED to indicate it's status is a little hard to see...not as bright as it could be. A little too far sunken into the case

Sounds great. Like someone else has stated, does the same gain thing as a Tube Screamer except it has that Vox AC-30 mid honk. I don't know how they did it, but it sounds like an AC-30!

seems tough enough. Nothing crazy in it for parts and the case is like a tank. Kinda cool looking too.

Not sure... I assume they'll be in business long enough to handle this thing, but like I said, there's no trick to it. It'll fix itself...

It's great for us guitar players who can't quite afford an AC-30 and want that mid thing happening at low-gain. In case you feel that the Tube Screamer is a little cliched at this point (great pedal though it is) and you want the same gain thing, but a unique tone, the Vox kills. The volume could be a tad louder for my tastes, as I have to keep it decked or close to it to match the bypassed tone, but it's a great pedal.

3 knobs, Grandma could use this one.

I had been looking for something that sounded decent in front of my Deluxe Reverb for years! This dude fills the bill for the warm blues overdrive I wanted. I turn my amp to about 4, put the tone on 12:00, gain usually about 11:00 and roll down the volume to 9:00. I use this setup with my Eric Clapton Strat.

Had it for six months and no trouble yet. The battery lasts forever in this unit which is a definite plus.

N\A

This box is a great match for my combination. I think the main reason is that it is transparent in that my strat tones still come through nicely. I would definetly buy this bugger again, worth every penny!!!P.S. I think it's better than the Tube Screamer (ts-09, never played through an 808) at less cost.

Simple. Gain, Tone, Volume knobs......Where have we seen this format before??

WOW!! Yesterday I bought an Expandora. Today I bought the Vox. Tomorrow the Expandora goes back. I was not prepared for this. This pedal rivals my Klon Centaur and costs only a third as much. Big, fat, full tone with clarity and presence. Way cool.

Got it today. So far I have only had to replace the battery. Based on how much I like this pedal, I will be replacing the battery a lot!!

Unknown.

I absolutely love it!! As good as my best TS-808, TS-9 and almost as good as the Klon. Get em before Vox figures out they are way underpriced!!

Three pots - Level, Gain & Tone and a stomp switch. Comes with a manual in 6 languages Has a 9V external jack connection.

I use this with a stock Strat(single coils)& a tube combo amp. As stated in another review: "A VOX Tube screamer" This can come very close to Ibenez TS9 sounds. IMHO the VOX is just a bit more transparent and a touch fatter. I kept a new re-issue TS9 for a weekend and A - B'ed it with the V810. IMO the TS9 was a bit smoother & SRV sounding (but thinner). The V810 seams able to do a close SRV thing but it also does an excellent blues growlin' crunch without sounding like a copy of SRV tone. I leave the Level setting at 10:30. The two tone control places I use are 3:30 & 5:00. Gain - I leave it around 10:30 but use it up to 4:00. This box is very quiet, I've had it around 5 months and I can't get a bad sound from it.

Solid box, DPDT-(true bypass) stomp switch. Clean fit & finish. I had to re-solder a connection on the DPDT switch that came loose around a month after I bought it.

Never tried.

This is an excellent blues / rock distortion box. I would buy it again. Nice FAT tone at all volume levels. Original, useable Gain range. If your after a blues distortion, give this box a listen.

Yet another three knob overdrive w/ gain, tone, & drive controls. All settings sound good.

This is basically a VOX Tubescreamer. You can do the light boost thing or turn up the distortion. While it doesn't maintain as much bass response as a TS-808 or Klon Centaur (it does do a little better than a reissue TS-9) it does maintain the sound of your guitar. The absolute coolest thing though is the fact that the distortion quality is like that of an overdriven VOX amp!-a rich hail of needles. At lower settings a tele and vibroverb can do a geat (sonic) impersonation of Robyn Hitchcock's guitar. The quality of the distortion is much richer than that of the more famous Ibanez overdrives.

It's built like an old VOX wha. That weird thick black metal and some chrome for good measure. Unfortunately you still gotta remove four screws on the bottom to change batteries. It has true bypass circuitry-so there's no signal loading-but it also has one o those old-fashioned "footswitch" switches-which means it'll POP when dusty-I sure wish they'da used a photo-optical switch.

Never had to call 'em-more than I can say of Danelectro.

Behaves like a Tubescreamer, sounds like a VOX amp! Seems very sturdy. I like the overall sonic response of a TS-808, but the sound quality of the distortion is SOOOOO COOOOOL!-i really don't know which to use. It's great for roots rock/blues and rockabilly or anything else one uses a tube screamer for. If ya like the VOX style distortion you can buy this and use it w/ yer own amp and spend that AC-30 money somewhere else.